EU imported 5.1 million tons of iron ore from Ukraine in January-April

In January-April 2024, Ukrainian mining companies shipped 5.11 million tons of iron ore to the EU market, up 3.7% year-on-year. This is based on GMK Center’s calculations based on Eurostat data.

European consumers’ spending on raw materials imports increased by 5.8% compared to January-April 2023 to €614.83 million.

The main consumers of Ukrainian raw materials among the EU countries during this period are:

• Slovakia – 1.83 million tons (+0.3% y/y);
• Czech Republic – 986.4 thousand tons (-35.4% y/y);
• Poland – 1.44 million tons (+6.2% y/y);
• Germany – 317 thsd tonnes (+5.8 times y/y).

In April 2024, the EU imported 1.44 million tons of iron ore from Ukraine, up 14.8% m/m and 13% y/y. Import costs increased by 4.8% m/m and fell by 0.06% y/y – to €162.87 million.

Overall, in January-April 2024, the European Union reduced iron ore imports by 1.8% compared to the same period in 2023, to 24.58 million tons. In April, imports fell by 4% m/m and 4.7% y/y to 6.27 million tons. Thus, Ukrainian suppliers accounted for 20.8% of the total imports of EU iron ore for 4 months.

The largest importers were the Netherlands and Germany – 8.3 million tons (+23.6% y/y) and 5.02 million tons (+21.5% y/y), respectively.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, the EU increased iron ore imports from Ukraine by 3.7% compared to 2022, to 13.4 million tons. In total, European consumers imported 72.75 million tons of ore from third countries, down 11% y/y. Ukraine accounted for more than 18% of the total imports of iron ore to the EU.