Poland imported 1.77 million tons of steel from third countries in 2023

Flat products accounted for the bulk of imports – 1.25 million tons

In 2023, Poland reduced imports of rolled steel products from third countries by 14% compared to 2022, to 1.77 million tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center’s calculations based on Eurostat data.

Imports of flat products decreased by 13.2% y/y and long products – by 15.9% y/y, to 1.25 million tons and 514.14 thousand tons, respectively. Long products accounted for more than 70% of total steel imports to Poland in 2023.

The bulk of imports came from hot-rolled flat products – 703.94 thousand tons (-15% y/y), coated flat products – 305.26 thousand tons (-1.2% y/y), and cold-rolled flat products – 159.19 thousand tons (+6.5% y/y).

In December, imports of rolled steel products to Poland totaled 120.04 thousand tons, up 150% y/y. Supplies of long products increased by 120% y/y – to 45.26 thousand tons, and flat products – by 171.9% y/y, to 74.78 thousand tons.

Last year, steel exports from Poland increased by 15.2% compared to 2022, to 318.8 thousand tons. In particular, exports of long products increased by 35.6% y/y – to 172.82 thousand tons, and flat products decreased by 2.3% y/y – to 144.97 thousand tons.

The largest exports were of coated flat products – 76.12 thousand tons (+25.3% y/y), wire rod – 39.5 thousand tons (+110.8% y/y), and angles, shapes and special sections made of non-alloy steel – 79.26 thousand tons (+79.1% y/y).

In December, Poland exported 31.9 thousand tons of rolled steel, up 12.9% compared to December 2022. Exports of long products increased by 220.4% y/y – to 25.54 thousand tons, and flat products decreased by 60% y/y – to 8.35 thousand tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Poland reduced steel production by 13.1% compared to 2022, to 6.44 million tons. Last year, the average monthly steel production in Poland amounted to 536.42 thousand tons, while in 2022 the figure was 617.25 thousand tons (-13.09% y/y).

Steel production in the EU countries amounted to 126.3 million tons in 2023, down 7.4% y/y.

There are 6 steel plants in Poland, including ArcelorMittal Warszawa (capacity of 0.75 million tons of steel per year), Celsa Huta Ostrowiec (0, 9 million tons per year), Liberty Czestochowa (0.84 million tons per year), CMC Zawiercie (1.7 million tons per year), ArcelorMittal Dąbrowa Górnicza (5 million tons per year), and Ferrostal Labedy Gliwice (0.5 million tons per year). The total steel production capacity of the plants reaches 9.69 million tons per year. Thus, in 2023, capacity utilization was 66.4%.