Scrap exports from Ukraine in August reached its highest level since 2021

The scrap industry continues to increase the export of raw materials, which are critically important for the stable operation of domestic steel industry

In August 2024, Ukraine’s scrap industry increased exports of ferrous scrap by 15.1% compared to the previous month, to 28.42 thousand tons. Compared to August 2023, the figure increased by 79.3%. Thus, exports have reached their highest level since December 2021, according to the State Customs Service.

In January-August, exports of raw materials reached 177.65 thousand tons, up 51.2% year-on-year in 2023. According to the Ukrainian Association of Secondary Metals, UAVtormet, 250-300 kt of scrap will be exported from Ukraine by the end of 2024. At the same time, 182.48 thousand tons of scrap were exported in 2023, and 54.07 thousand tons in 2022.

The bulk of raw materials for 8 months of 2024 were exported to Poland – 152.36 thousand tons. A small part is exported to Greece (19.54 thousand tons) and Germany (5.18 thousand tons).

Earlier, Oleksandr Kalenkov, President of Ukrmetalurgprom, noted that scrap is exported through the European Union, which has a preferential export duty of €3 per ton, and from there the raw materials are redirected to real consumers in Turkey. He emphasized that exporting raw materials directly to Turkey would cost €180 in export duties, and the Ukrainian budget has already lost more than UAH 350 million.

Revenues from raw material exports in August 2024 amounted to $9.24 million tons, up 14.9% m/m and 113.9% y/y. In January-August, it amounted to $57.04 million (+67.1% y/y).

The increase in shipments is taking place amidst difficulties in collecting scrap due to hostilities, as most scrap enterprises were located in the temporarily occupied territories or in the war zone before the full-scale war.

An additional factor putting pressure on the scrap market is the lack of scrap sales by one of its main suppliers, Ukrainian Railways. The railroad operator stopped selling scrap back in September 2023, which had an extremely negative impact on the market and the entire Ukrainian steel industry.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, the volume of ferrous scrap collectrion in Ukraine increased by 28.1% to 1.27 million tons compared to 2022. Over the same period, scrap supplies to steelmakers amounted to 1.034 million tons (+15.4% y/y). Exports increased by 3.4 times compared to 2022 to 182.48 thousand tons.