Turkey tops the list of the largest steel importers through Ukrainian ports

In 2020, Italy dropped down to the 2nd position in the rank of the largest importers of metal products through Ukrainian ports

In 2020, Turkey ranked 1st among the largest metal products importers through Ukrainian seaports. Ukrainian steelmakers shipped 2.3 million tons of metal through sea harbors to Turkey, 41.2% up from 2019, according to the data presented in the joint study by Stark Shipping and Ukrainian Shipping Magazine.

In total, Ukraine exports metals to 59 countries all over the world. Five leading countries import 54.6% of the total volume of metal products of all types.

“In 2020, there was a significant leap in Turkey’s ranking as a rolled products importer, even despite the increased import duties,” the study reads.

Italy, the leader in 2019, reduced imports by 14% in 2020, loosing the 1st position to Turkey. In 2020, many of the country’s steelmaking companies were idle due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, China was ranked 4th with a record volume of metal products imports from Ukraine — 1.45 million tons against 152 thousand tons in 2019.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, many companies have been able to take advantage of the active recovery of Chinese economy and increase their shipments of ore, thus resuming sales of metal products in that market,” the study reads further.

Shipments to Qatar grew significantly: 169.2 thousand tons against 10.3 thousand tons in 2019.

Shipments to Indonesia also grew significantly. The country was ranked 9th with imports of 407.7 thousand tons against 164.7 thousand tons in 2019. The main companies shipping metal products to Indonesia are ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih (79%) and Metinvest (21%).

In 2020, Metinvest resumed shipments to the Dominican Republic — 204.8 thousand tons.

In 2020, AMKR entered a new market, Gabon, having shipped 2.1 thousand tons of metal products. The Company also resumed shipments to Guinea — 5.9 thousand tons.

Byelorussian Steel Works also opened up a new direction, Sudan, having shipped 20,998 tons of billets to the country.

Top 25 countries importing metal products through Ukrainian ports (all types of metal, excluding container shipments and Danube ports)

Position	Destination country	2020, tons	Share of total volume, %	2019, tons	2020 against 2019
1	Turkey	2334911	14,79%	1653942	680969
2	Italy	2271457	14,39%	2642840	-371383
3	United States	1946207	12,33%	1667048	279159
4	China	1455352	9,22%	151916	1303436
5	Saudi Arabia	622468	3,94%	418841	203627
6	Egypt	586963	3,72%	1180110	-593147
7	Israel	482962	3,06%	372562	110400
8	Bulgaria	428463	2,71%	351208	77255
9	Indonesia	407730	2,58%	164700	243030
10	UAE	335613	2,13%	380081	-44468
11	United Kingdom	311766	1,97%	374223	-62457
12	Iraq	261827	1,66%	396888	-135061
13	Djibouti	244665	1,55%	217199	27466
14	Senegal	243630	1,54%	336937	-93307
15	Jordan	237856	1,51%	161190	76666
16	Algeria	235501	1,49%	504620	-269119
17	Ghana	216375	13,7%	200490	15885
18	Tunisia	215465	1,36%	126718	88747
19	Dominican Republic	204757	1,3%	0	204757
20	Spain	185058	1,17%	188079	-3021
21	Greece	170761	1,08%	230641	-59880
22	Qatar	169198	1,07%	10384	158814
23	Thailand	165250	1,05%	262627	-97377
24	Costa Rica	164850	1,04%	111943	52907
25	Singapore	161702	1,02%	354467	-192765

As reported earlier, in 2020 transshipment of ferrous metals for exports through Ukrainian seaports increased by 6.6% to 15.03 million tons against 2019.