Ukraine increased exports of semi-finished products by 41.6% m/m in May

In May 2026, Ukraine’s steelworks increased their exports of semi-finished steel products by 41.6% compared with the previous month, reaching 165.05 thousand tonnes. Year-on-year, the increase stood at 149.9%. This is according to calculations by the GMK Centre based on data from the State Customs Service.

The main export destinations remain Bulgaria – 40.27 thousand tonnes (+52.3% y-o-y; -7.4% m-o-m), Turkey – 34.15 thousand tonnes (0 thousand tonnes in May 2025; +231.4% month-on-month) and Poland – 15.22 thousand tonnes (-3.4% year-on-year; -0.6% month-on-month).

In January–May, Ukraine increased its exports of semi-finished products by 19.2% compared with the same period last year, to 603.42 thousand tonnes. Exports to Bulgaria totalled 245.35 thousand tonnes (+18.3% y-o-y), to Turkey – 105.75 thousand tonnes (25.5% y-o-y), and to Poland – 70.58 thousand tonnes (-2.1% y-o-y).

Export revenue for the first five months rose by 20.9% year-on-year to $301.05 million, whilst in May it increased by 47.1% month-on-month and 163% year-on-year – to $88.54 million.

As reported by GMK Center, Ukrainian steelmakers reduced their exports of semi-finished steel products by 26.4% in 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, to 1.39 million tonnes. Export revenue for the 12-month period fell by 28.9% year-on-year – to $659.62 million.

The main export destinations for semi-finished products during this period were Bulgaria – 461.34 thousand tonnes (-22.5% year-on-year), Turkey – 216.34 thousand tonnes (+0.3% year-on-year), Poland – 291.41 thousand tonnes and Egypt – 99.26 thousand tonnes (-72.1% year-on-year).

In the fourth quarter, exports of semi-finished products rose by 25.4% compared with the same period in 2024 and by 18.5% compared with the previous quarter – to 446.67 thousand tonnes, whilst revenue from these exports rose by 23.9% year-on-year and 21.9% quarter-on-quarter, to $209.38 million.