EU imported 1.62 million tons of DRI in January-July

The main volume of products was shipped from Russia and Libya – 812 thousand tons and 287.8 thousand tons, respectively

In January-July 2023, the European Union reduced the import of direct reduction iron (DRI) by 19.3% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 1.62 million tons. This is evidenced by Eurostat’s data.

In July 2023, the volume of DRI deliveries to European consumers increased by 35.8% compared to June of this year, and by 2.8% by July 2022 – up to 274.5 thousand tons.

Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Austria are the main importers of direct reduction iron among the EU countries in January-July, in particular:

• Italy – 599.61 thousand tons (-12.2% y/y);
• Germany – 372.3 thousand tons (-20.5% y/y);
• Belgium – 205.3 thousand tons (-5.6% y/y);
• Spain – 154.2 thousand tons (-17.2% y/y);
• Austria – 102.5 thousand tons (-2.2% y/y).

The largest supplier of DRI to the European Union is Russia. In January-July 2023, Russian enterprises shipped 812,000 tons of direct reduction iron to European consumers, which is 28.1% less compared to the same period in 2022. In July, the EU imported 135.2 thousand tons of these products from the Russian Federation (-8.2% y/y).

The main importer of Russian products is Italy – 496.1 thousand tons, which is 13.8% less y/y. In the second place is Belgium – 152.7 thousand tons (-21.4% y/y).

Libya shipped 287.8 thousand tons of DRI to the EU in January-July, increasing the figure by 70.6% y/y. In July, European steelmakers imported 28.6 thousand tons of direct reduction iron from Libya (-5.6% y/y). Import of DRI from Venezuela for 7 months amounted to 93.52 thousand tons (-25% y/y), and in July – 12.4 thousand tons (-86.9% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, the European Union in January-June 2023 reduced the import of iron and steel products from Russia by 47% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 2.92 million tons. Costs for importing Russian products to European consumers amounted to €1.51 billion, which is 44.6% less y/y.