EU increased imports of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 14.6% m/m in August

In August 2023, the European Union increased the import of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 14.6% compared to the previous month – to 85.21 thousand tons. The import of products in monetary terms decreased by 1.4% m/m – to €40.54 million. This is evidenced by Eurostat’s data.

Compared to August 2022, in August 2023, European steelmakers increased the import of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 3.5 times in physical terms, and by 2.4 times – in monetary terms.

In January-August 2023, the European Union reduced the import of Ukrainian semi-finished products by 18.8% compared to the same period last year – to 671.1 thousand tons. The costs of European steelmakers for the import of products fell by 33.2% y/y – to €361.9 million.

The largest importers of semi-finished products of Ukrainian production among the EU countries in January-August 2023 were:

• Poland – 212.1 thousand tons (+82.3% compared to January-August 2022);
• Bulgaria – 294.84 thousand tons (-3.1% y/y);
• Italy – 63.62 thousand tons (-79.7% y/y).

In August, Poland consumed 2.25 thousand tons of Ukrainian products (+8.7 times y/y; -53.2% m/m), Bulgaria – 51.3 thousand tons (+2.7 times y/y; -13.7% m/m), Italy – 21.7 thousand tons (1 thousand tons in July 2023).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-August 2023, Ukrainian steel companies exported 780.4 thousand tons of semi-finished products for $410.7 million. Export volumes of slabs and billets decreased by 50.9% compared to the same period in 2022, and revenue from shipments decreased by 59.3%.

In August, the export of products increased by 11.4% compared to the previous month, and by 38.8% y/y – to 121.7 thousand tons.

The low volumes of production and export of iron and steel products compared to last year are connected with logistical problems, unfavorable conditions of the world market, as well as with the destruction due to hostilities of the two largest steel enterprises of Ukraine – Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works.