Ukraine cuts flat products exports to 19-month low in November

In November 2024, Ukrainian steel companies reduced exports of flat steel products by 56.4% compared to the previous month and by 49.2% compared to November 2023, to 66.2 thousand tons. This is evidenced by data from the State Customs Service.

Hot-rolled flat products (HS 7208) accounted for the bulk of exports, amounting to 46.99 thousand tons, down 59.2% m/m and 56.8% y/y. Shipments of cold-rolled flat products (HS 7209) decreased by 46.1% m/m and 12.7% y/y to 12.83 thousand tons, and shipments of coated flat products (HS 7210) decreased by 23.2% m/m and 9.3% y/y to 5.12 thousand tons.

In November, shipments of flat products from Ukraine fell to their lowest level since April 2023, when the industry was recovering from prolonged power outages. Since then, exports have been at least 100 thousand tons per month. November’s low results reflect the difficulties arising from unfavorable conditions in the global steel market, particularly in the EU, the main export market for Ukrainian steelmakers, as well as internal challenges for the industry, including problems with energy supply, rising electricity and logistics prices, a shortage of skilled workers, etc.

In January-November 2024, exports of flat products from Ukraine increased by 48.6% compared to the same period in 2023, to 1.51 million tons.

Hot-rolled flat products accounted for the bulk of exports – 1.26 million tons (+61.3% y/y). Over 11 months, 463.56 thousand tons of the product were shipped to Poland, 338.43 thousand tons to Bulgaria and 124.36 thousand tons to Italy.

The company also exported 185.54 thousand tons (+2.4% y/y) of cold-rolled flat products. The bulk was shipped to Poland – 72.23 thousand tons, Bulgaria – 26.99 thousand tons, and Italy – 19.82 thousand tons. Coated flat products accounted for another 50.6 thousand tons (-1.1% y/y) of exports. The company shipped 37.56 thousand tons of these products to Poland, 7.85 thousand tons to Romania and 2.03 thousand tons to Moldova.

Revenues from flat products exports increased by 36.6% y/y – to $937.76 million in January-November 2024, and decreased by 58.2% m/m and 48.8% y/y – to $38.99 million in November.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukraine reduced exports of flat products by 26.4% compared to 2022, to 1.202 million tons. Revenue from exports of the relevant products decreased by 42.2% y/y – to $782.3 million.

Although exports in 2023 are lower than in 2022 (1.63 million tons), they are still significantly higher than in March-December 2022 (the period after the start of the full-scale invasion). From the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion until the end of 2022, Ukrainian steelmakers exported only 594.54 thousand tons of flat products, and the bulk of the relevant exports in 2022 were shipped in January-February – 1.04 million tons.

Thus, in 2023, Ukrainian steelmakers doubled last year’s figures, excluding the pre-war January-February period.