Ukraine exported record volumes of pig iron since March 2021

In March 2025, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises exported 300.9 thousand tons of commercial pig iron, which is the record monthly volume of shipments since December 2021. For comparison, in February of this year, exports amounted to 24.35 thousand tons (a minimum since December 2022), and in March last year – 92.43 thousand tons. This is based on GMK Center’s calculations based on the State Customs Service data.

The US is the driver of the significant growth in pig iron exports in March. During the month, 245.14 thousand tons of products were shipped to the US, while in February, no products were exported to the US market. European consumers also increased their imports of pig iron from Ukraine, in particular, Italy – by 2.3 times m/m, to 45.56 thousand tons, and Poland – by 8.3% m/m, to 3.45 thousand tons.

“The growth of pig iron imports from Ukraine to the United States was driven by uncertainty over Trump’s further imposition of import tariffs. It is likely that the increased order volumes were intended to replenish stocks and we will not see large volumes of supplies in the next couple of months amid a shock reaction from the market related to the scale of the imposed duties,” said Andriy Glushchenko, GMK Center analyst.

In January-March 2025, export volumes increased by 25.3% compared to the same period in 2024, and by 6.3% compared to the previous quarter to 453.88 thousand tons. The United States accounted for 360.5 thousand tons of supplies, Italy – 65.55 thousand tons, Poland – 11.12 thousand tons, and the Netherlands – 4.97 thousand tons.

Revenues from pig iron exports in March amounted to $118.92 million, up from $8.89 million in February and $36.05 million in March 2024. In the first quarter, the figure increased by 33.9% y/y and 6.2% q/q – to $179.4 million.

In 2024, Ukraine increased exports of commercial pig iron by 3.4% compared to 2023, from 1.25 million tons to 1.29 million tons. At the same time, exports amounted to 1.32 million tons in 2022 and 3.23 million tons in 2021. Ukrainian metallurgists’ export revenue increased by 6.1% to $500.34 million over the year.

Export destinations were diversified during the year. In particular, the United States became the main consumer of Ukrainian pig iron, mainly due to the resumption of maritime logistics for Ukrainian mining and metals cargo. At the same time, exports to the EU declined due to market stagnation. Thus, 940.21 thousand tons (+514% y/y) were shipped to the United States, 102.49 thousand tons (+617%) to Turkey, 93.28 thousand tons (+61.9%) to Italy, and 63.05 thousand tons (-90%) to Poland. In 2023, Poland consumed more than half of Ukraine’s pig iron exports (633.34 thousand tons), while in 2024 it was only 5%.