EU imported 1.69 million tons of DRI in January-July

Imports increased by 4.8% y/y

In January-July 2024, the European Union increased the import of direct reduction iron (DRI) by 4.8% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 1.69 million tons. This is evidenced by Eurostat data.

Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands are the main importers of DRI among the EU countries, in particular:

Italy – 489.58 thousand tons (-18.4% y/y);
Germany – 383.5 thousand tons (+3% y/y);
Belgium – 137.14 thousand tons (-33.2% y/y);
Spain – 160.39 thousand tons (+4% y/y);
The Netherlands – 154.08 thousand tons (66.63 thousand tons in January-July 2023).

The largest supplier of DRI to the European Union is Russia. In January-July, Russian enterprises shipped 666.02 thousand tons of direct reduction iron to European consumers, which is 18% less y/y.

The main importer of Russian products is Italy – 368.01 thousand tons, which is 25.8% less y/y. In second place is Belgium – 105.69 thousand tons (-30.8% y/y), and in third place – the Netherlands – 99.72 thousand tons (+202.2% y/y).

Libya shipped 338.44 thousand tons of DRI to the EU in 7 months, increasing the figure by 17.6% y/y. Venezuela exported 182.49 thousand tons of thses products to the European Union (+95.1% y/y).

In July, the EU imported 347.57 thousand tons of DRI, which is 110.7% more y/y and 26.6% m/m. Import volumes are the maximum since January 2024.

At the same time, there is a change in the structure of suppliers. In July, the Russian Federation exported 86.85 thousand tons of raw materials to the EU (-35.8% y/y; +66% m/m), while Libya – 93.01 thousand tons (+225.3 % y/y; +25.9% m/m), and Venezuela – 118.12 thousand tons. The last deliveries of Venezuelan products were made in February 2024.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, EU reduced imports of direct reduced iron (DRI) by 11% compared to 2022 – to 2.61 million tons. In December 2023, the volume of DRI supplies to European consumers increased by 19.9% compared to the previous month, and by 146.5% to December 2022 – up to 213.12 thousand tons. The largest supplier of DRI is Russia – 1.19 million tons (-21.3% y/y).