EU imported 2.57 million tons of iron and steel products from Russia in January-May

In January-May 2025, the European Union (EU) imported 2.57 million tons (+1.1% y/y) of steel raw materials of Russian origin. The cost of importing these products reached €1.06 billion (-14.7% y-o-y). This is evidenced by GMK Center calculations based on Eurostat data.

The bulk of imports consists of semi-finished products. In the first five months of 2025, 1.49 million tons of semi-finished products (-3.3% y-o-y) were shipped to the EU. The cost of these imports amounted to €681.93 million (-14.6% y/y). The largest consumers of semi-finished products from Russia are Belgium – 554,630 tons (-9.4% y/y), Italy – 358,940 tons (+5.6% y/y), the Czech Republic – 294.08 thousand tons (+48.9% y/y), and Denmark – 251.04 thousand tons (+2.8% y/y).

Large volumes of imports also fall on cast iron – 696.99 thousand tons (+68.5% y/y). The revenue of Russian mining and metallurgical companies from supplying the relevant products to the EU market amounted to €254.45 million (+51.9% y/y). The main volumes were sent to Italy – 524.62 thousand tons (+73.9% y/y), Latvia – 87.27 thousand tons (+16.9% y/y), and Belgium – 31.07 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in January-May 2024).

There were almost no deliveries of Russian-made ferroalloys to the EU market in January-May 2025 – 3.8 tons compared to 39.47 thousand tons a year earlier.

Scrap imports from Russia amounted to 30.55 thousand tons (+2 times y/y), and procurement costs amounted to €10.84 million (+55.2% y/y). Iron ore supplies amounted to 2.04 thousand tons (9.36 thousand tons in January-May 2024). At the same time, imports of direct reduced iron (DRI) during this period amounted to 353.19 thousand tons (-33% y/y) for €110.4 million (-38.9% y/y).

In May 2025, the EU imported 454.94 thousand tons (-23.3% y/y; +22.3% m/m) of iron and steel products from Russia, including:

• pig iron – 0 thousand tons (144.52 thousand tons in May 2024; 0 thousand tons in April);
• semi-finished products – 329.23 thousand tons (-1.9% y/y; +7.6% m/m);
• DRI – 111.85 thousand tons (+17.3% y/y; +103.2% m/m);
• scrap – 12.98 thousand tons (+90.6% y/y; +34.7% m/m);
  ore – 0.9 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in May 2024; -22.7% month-on-month).

Revenue of Russian steelmakers from exports to the EU in May amounted to €190.27 million, which is 34.5% less y/y and 18.1% more m/y.

As GMK Center repored earlier, the EU imported 5.34 million tons of iron and steel products from Russia in 2024. Despite sanctions, Russian producers continue to receive significant revenues from exports to the EU, with this amount exceeding €2.5 billion last year. This indicates the weak effectiveness of the current restrictions and the existence of exceptions that allow Russian steel companies to export to EU markets.