EU reduced semi-finished products imports from Ukraine by 15.7% m/m in October

In October 2023, the European Union reduced imports of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 15.7% compared to the previous month, to 84.7 thousand tons. Imports of products in monetary terms decreased by 11.8% month-on-month – to €40.46 million. This is evidenced by Eurostat data.

Compared to October 2022, in October 2023, European steelmakers increased imports of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 8.8% in physical terms and decreased by 19.2% in monetary terms.

In January-October 2023, the European Union reduced imports of Ukrainian semi-finished products by 11.6% compared to the same period last year, to 856.2 thousand tons. European steelmakers’ expenditures on imports of these products fell by 29.3% y/y – to €448.2 million.

In January-October 2023, the largest importers of semi-finished products made in Ukraine among the EU countries were:

• Poland – 233.8 thousand tons (+49.8% compared to January-October 2022);
• Bulgaria – 400,000 tons (+5% y/y);
• Italy – 90.6 thousand tons (-71.4% y/y).

In October, Poland consumed 7.46 thousand tons of Ukrainian products (-43.3% y/y; -47.7% m/m), Bulgaria – 47.86 thousand tons (+8.4% y/y; -16.5% m/m), Italy – 4.54 thousand tons (0.3 thousand tons in October 2022; +39.6% m/m) .

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-October 2023, Ukrainian steel companies exported 1.034 million tons of semi-finished products worth $529.58 million. Export volumes of slabs and billets decreased by 40.4% compared to the same period in 2022, while revenue from shipments fell by 51.6%.

In October, exports of products decreased by 23.6% compared to the previous month and increased by 59.6% y/y – to 110.12 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.