European Union reduced imports of flat rolled products from Ukraine by 33.4% y/y in January-August

In January-August 2023, the European Union reduced the import of flat products from Ukraine by 33.4% compared to the same period in 2022 – to 486.34 thousand tons. This is evidenced by Eurostat’s data.

In 8 months, flat hot-rolled carbon steel (HS 7208) was imported the most – 374.33 thousand tons, which is 33.9% less compared to January-August 2022. These products account for more than 76% of the total volume of imports of Ukrainian flat rolled products into the EU.

Also, 94.64 thousand tons (+25.3% y/y) of flat cold-rolled steel (HS 7209) and 17.31 thousand t (-76.5% y/y) of coated steel (HS 7210) were delivered to the European market.

The main consumer of flat rolled steel from Ukraine is Poland. For 8 months, 207.85 thousand tons of flat hot-rolled products were shipped to the Polish market, which is 20.4% less year-on-year. Polish consumers also imported 34,600 tons (+16.7% y/y) of Ukrainian-made cold-rolled products and 12,000 tons (-79.4% y/y) of coated flat products.

In August 2023, European consumers imported 85.84 thousand tons of flat rolled products from Ukraine, which is 52.3% more compared to July, and 91.6% more by August 2022, in particular:

• hot-rolled rolled steel – 67.5 thousand tons (+46.8% m/m; +91.4% y/y);
• cold rolled products – 15.62 thousand tons (+84.8% m/m; +2.3 times y/y);
• coated rolled steel – 2.74 thousand tons (+41% m/m; -3.1% y/y);

The main part of the products during the month was imported to Poland, Bulgaria and Italy.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Ukraine in January-August 2023 reduced exports of flat rolled products by 56.2% compared to the same period of 2022 – to 626.55 thousand tons. In August, Ukrainian steelmakers exported 108.8 thousand tons of flat rolled products. This is 14.3% more compared to the previous month, and 86.6% more by August 2022.