Consumption of steel products in Ukraine decreased to 2.3 million tonnes in January-August

Ukraine reduced consumption of steel products (rolled and semi-finished products) by 1.5% in January-August 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, to 2.298 million tonnes. This is evidenced by data from Ukrmetalurgprom.

Over 8 months, Ukraine imported 833.1 thousand tonnes of steel products, up 5.8% compared to January-August 2023. Imports account for 36.3% of the domestic rolled steel consumption market in the country. The share of imports in domestic consumption of steel products increased by 5.83ppt y/y.

The structure of imports is characterised by a significant dominance of flat products over long products – 79.74% and 18.8%, respectively. In January-August 2023, the share of flat products over long products was also significant – 80.3% and 18.71%, respectively.

In 8 months, Ukrainian steelmakers produced 4.32 million tonnes of rolled products, up 26.6% year-on-year. The Group exported 2.85 million tonnes of steel products, up 59.4% y/y.

The domestic market received 1.46 million tonnes of rolled and semi-finished products, down 9.6% y/y. In January-August, Ukrainian steelmakers reduced shipments to the domestic market, with exports accounting for 66.1% of total output over 8 months, down from 52.5% a year ago.

The share of flat products in export sales increased to 39.2% over 8 months, up from 35% a year earlier. The share of long products in exports decreased to 14% from 19.6%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukrainian steelmakers increased their rolled steel production by 0.4% year-on-year – to 5.37 million tonnes. In December, Ukrainian steelmakers increased rolled steel production by 1.8% month-on-month and 4.7 times year-on-year – to 508 thousand tonnes.

Consumption of steel products in 2023 increased by 119.3% compared to 2022 to 3.506 million tonnes. Imports totalled 1.12 million tonnes (+79.9% y/y), while exports were 2.98 million tonnes (-31.7% y/y).