Steel imports into the EU rose by 14% y/y in 2025 – EUROFER

In 2025, steel imports into the European Union, including semi-finished products, rose by 14% compared to the previous year. Imports of finished steel products increased by 9% year-over-year, driven by a 7% year-over-year rise in flat steel shipments and a 17% year-over-year increase in long steel shipments. This is stated in the EUROFER review for the first quarter of 2026.

The association notes that a particularly sharp increase in imports was observed at the end of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, total steel imports to the EU jumped by 53% year-over-year, while imports of finished products rose by 35% year-over-year. During the quarter, flat steel shipments increased by 39% year-over-year, and long steel shipments by 23% year-over-year. EUROFER attributes this trend to the impact of U.S. tariffs and general uncertainty in global trade, which in the second half of the year contributed to a decline in exports from the EU and an increase in imports to the European market.

In the third quarter of 2025, imports into the EU, including semi-finished products, rose by 10% year-on-year following a 3.2% decline in the previous quarter. As a result, the share of imports in apparent steel consumption in the EU reached a record 29%, up from 25% in the second quarter. For comparison, this figure stood at 27% for the whole of 2024. At the same time, apparent steel consumption in the EU in 2025 is estimated at 132 million tons, compared to 129 million tons a year earlier.

Turkey accounted for the largest share among the main suppliers of finished steel—16.5% (404,000 tons), followed by South Korea – 11.4% (280,000 tons), Indonesia – 9% (220,000 tons), China – 8.7% (213,000 tons), India – 8% (197,000 tons), and Ukraine – 7% (172,000 tons). The most significant growth in imports was recorded from Indonesia—up 263% year-over-year, Turkey—up 24% year-over-year, China – by 31% y/y, and Ukraine – by 8% y/y, while shipments from India fell by 28% y/y and from Taiwan – by 15% y/y.

According to EUROFER estimates, imports remained at historically high levels and contributed to a further widening of the EU’s trade deficit. In 2025, the total steel trade deficit, including semi-finished products, reached approximately 2 million tons per month, compared to 1.4 million tons per month in 2024.

It is worth noting that in the third quarter of 2025, apparent steel consumption in the European Union rose by 4.6% year-on-year following two quarters of decline, including a 1.7% drop in the previous quarter. Total consumption for July–September amounted to 32 million tons. Real steel consumption also increased — by 3.5% year-on-year.