Exclusive Ukraine imported 2.3 million tons of coking coal in January-August

The bulk of supplies comes from American raw materials

In January-August 2025, Ukrainian steel enterprises increased imports of coking coal (HS 2701121000) by 3.1 times compared to the same period in 2024, to 2.29 million tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center calculations based on data from the State Statistics Service.

In August, imports of coking coal amounted to 308,970 tons, which is 0.2% more than in the previous month and 5.3 times more than in August 2024.

The bulk of supplies over the eight months came from the US – 988,210 tons (+272% y/y). Another 610.75 thousand tons (+4.5 times y/y) of raw materials were imported from Australia and 301.51 thousand tons (+2.5 times y/y) from the Czech Republic. In August, supplies from the US fell by 56.7% month-on-month to 77.25 thousand tons, which is the minimum for the current year. The Czech Republic supplied 42.38 thousand tons (+21.9% month-on-month; +39.1% year-on-year), and Australia supplied 115.38 thousand tons (+259% month-on-month).

Spending on raw material imports in January-August increased threefold y/y – to $559.39 million, while in August it fell by 3.2% m/m and increased 4.9 times y/y – to $71.61 million.

It should be noted that between 2013 and 2024, coking coal production in Ukraine fell by 74%, and coke production by almost 85%. Currently, most of the mines and coke chemical plants remain in uncontrolled territories – 64% of the total number.

According to GMK Center estimates, to maintain production at the current level, namely the production of up to 6.5 million tons of steel using converter and open-hearth methods and 1.3 million tons of commercial pig iron, Ukraine needs 3.2 million tons of coke per year, of which up to 20% was imported in 2024. In 2025, imports of coke and coking coal will increase due to the shutdown of the Pokrovsk Coal Group.

In early April, the first ship of 2025 with coking coal from the US, chartered by the Metinvest Group, arrived in Ukraine. The bulk carrier delivered 80,000 tons of raw materials from United Coal Company, which is part of the group. Metinvest planned to carry out similar import deliveries every month, but the company recently announced that the enterprise would be spun off.

In 2024, imports of coking coal to Ukraine increased threefold year-on-year to 1.2 million tons. In 2022, this volume amounted to 2.8 million tons, and in 2023, to 0.4 million tons, although in the pre-war years of 2013-2021, supplies remained at the level of 9.7-12 million tons.