Ukraine exported 76.5 thousand tons of steel semi-finished products in September 2022

The export of slabs and billets decreased by 12.7% month-on-month and by 87.1% year-on-year

In September 2022, Ukrainian steel enterprises reduced the export of semi-finished products by 12.7% compared to the previous month – to 76.49 thousand tons. The revenue of enterprises from exports in September 2022 decreased by 14.2% m/m – to $46.2 million. This is evidenced by the State Customs Service’s data.

On an annual basis, shipments of semi-finished products abroad in September 2022 decreased by 87.1% in physical terms and by 89% in monetary terms.

In January-September 2022, the export of semi-finished products amounted to 1.66 million tons, which is 68.9% less than in the same period last year. In monetary terms, the export of semi-finished products for 9 months of 2022 decreased by 67% y/y – to $1.05 billion.

The main importers of semi-finished products from Ukraine in the first 9 months of 2022 were Bulgaria (23.38% of deliveries in monetary terms), Italy (13.6%) and Poland (12.09%).

In September 2022, Ukrainian steelmakers increased the production of rolled products by 2.4% compared to August – up to 254,000 tons. Pig iron production in September 2022 decreased by 7.5% m/m – to 310,000 tons, and steel output – by 7.1% m/m, to 340,000 tons.

The low production of Ukrainian steelmakers is connected with logistical problems, the unfavorable situation of the world market, as well as with the destruction due to hostilities of the two largest enterprises of Ukrainian iron and steel industry – Azovstal and Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February 2022, Europe became the only market for Ukrainian products. At the same time, it is difficult and expensive to deliver goods by rail. The costs of steelmakers for the shipment of rolled steel to customers increased at least by 2 times, and the demand for products fell due to unfavorable market conditions.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2021, the export of semi-finished products from Ukraine decreased by 9.5% compared to 2020 – to 6.8 million tons. In monetary terms, the export of semi-finished products increased by 48.8% year-on-year – up to $4.1 billion. The main importers of Ukrainian semi-finished products in 2021 were Italy (30.9%), Turkiye (12.8%) and the Dominican Republic (8%).