EU reduced semi-finished products imports from Ukraine by 6.2% m/m in November

In November 2023, the European Union reduced imports of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 6.2% compared to the previous month, to 79.44 thousand tons. Imports of products in monetary terms decreased by 7.5% month-on-month – to €37.42 million. This is evidenced by Eurostat data.

Compared to November 2022, in November 2023, European steelmakers reduced imports of semi-finished products from Ukraine by 11% in physical terms and 34.1% in monetary terms.

In January-November 2023, the European Union reduced imports of Ukrainian semi-finished products by 11.6% year-on-year – to 935.7 thousand tons. European steelmakers’ expenditures on imports of these products fell by 29.7% y/y – to €485.63 million.

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

• Poland – 241.02 thousand tons (+23.5% compared to January-November 2022);
• Bulgaria – 456.2 thousand tons (+9.7% y/y);
• Italy – 101.64 thousand tons (-67.9% y/y).

In November, Poland consumed 7.22 thousand tons of Ukrainian products (-81.5% y/y; -3.2% m/m), Bulgaria – 56.2 thousand tons (+60.8%) y/y; +17.4% m/m), Italy – 12.04 thousand tons (-20.4% m/m).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-November 2023, Ukraine exported 1.1 million tons of semi-finished products worth $562.11 million. Export volumes of slabs and billets decreased by 39.5% compared to the same period in 2022, while revenue from shipments fell by 51%.

In November, exports of products decreased by 36.3% month-on-month and fell by 21.8% y/y – to 70.1 thousand tons, a 10-month low.

The low production and export volumes of iron and steel products compared to the previous year are due to logistical problems, unfavorable global market conditions, and the destruction of two of Ukraine’s largest iron and steel companies, Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, due to the hostilities.