The EU imported 13.97 million tons of iron ore from Ukraine in 2024

In 2024, steelmakers in the European Union increased imports of iron ore from Ukraine by 4.2% compared to 2023, to 13.969 million tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center’s calculations based on Eurostat data.

The key importers of raw materials of Ukrainian origin are Poland – 4.79 million tons, up 42.2% compared to 2023, Slovakia – 4.67 million tons (-7.1% y/y), and the Czech Republic – 2.79 million tons (-28.4% y/y). In 2024, the Netherlands increased its imports of iron ore from Ukraine by 84.2% y/y – to 660.11 thousand tons.

In December 2024, the EU imported 1.09 million tons of iron ore, up 3.7% compared to December 2023 and 26.3% more than in December 2023. Poland consumed 384.93 thousand tons over the month (+98.7% y/y, +13.6% m/m), Slovakia – 468.59 thousand tons (+10.7% y/y, +86.6% m/m), Czech Republic – 235.91 thousand tons (+10.9% y/y, +42.8% m/m).

In total, the EU imported 74.93 million tons of iron ore from third countries in 2024, up 2.6% compared to 2023. In December, these volumes amounted to 5.18 million tons, which is 1.7% less than in December 2023 and 3.6% less than in the previous month. The largest importer is the Netherlands – 26.59 million tons (+16.5% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, the EU increased its imports of iron ore from Ukraine by 3.7% compared to 2022, up to 13.4 million tons. In total, European consumers imported 72.75 million tons of ore from third countries, down 11% y/y. Ukraine accounted for more than 18% of the total imports of iron ore to the EU.