Ukraine increased flat steel imports to 457,000 tonnes in January–May

Between January and May 2026, 457.22 thousand tonnes of flat-rolled steel were supplied to the Ukrainian market, which is 0.6% higher than the figure for the same period in 2025. This is according to calculations by the GMK Centre based on data from the State Customs Service.

Around 50% of imports consisted of coated flat-rolled products (HS code 7210) – 224.67 thousand tonnes, which is 14.2% higher year-on-year. The main suppliers of these products during the period in question were Turkey – 119.8 thousand tonnes, South Korea – 17.02 thousand tonnes and Slovakia – 17.77 thousand tonnes.

A further 31.7% of imports, or 144.99 thousand tonnes (-12.6% year-on-year), consisted of flat hot-rolled steel (HS Code 7208). The main source of these supplies is Turkey – 104.15 thousand tonnes. A further 29.21 thousand tonnes were imported from China and 2.53 thousand tonnes from the Czech Republic.

During the same period, 47.33 thousand tonnes of cold-rolled flat steel (HS Code 7209) were imported, representing a 0.1% increase year-on-year. Turkey supplied 33.19 thousand tonnes of the product, whilst Slovakia supplied 1.69 thousand tonnes.

In May, Ukrainian consumers imported 143.29 thousand tonnes of flat-rolled products, up 44.6% year-on-year and 78.9% month-on-month. Supplies of coated flat steel products amounted to 60.45 thousand tonnes (+27.1% year-on-year; +33.2% month-on-month), hot-rolled flat steel products – 57.94 thousand tonnes (+82.3% year-on-year; +171.5% month-on-month), and cold-rolled flat steel – 18.78 thousand tonnes (+94.1% year-on-year; +243.9% month-on-month).

Expenditure on flat steel imports for the January–May period fell by 6.5% year-on-year – to $447.97 million, whilst in May it rose by 15.5% year-on-year and 47.1% month-on-month – to $124.93 million.

It should be noted that, according to the figures for 2025, 1.09 million tonnes of flat-rolled steel were supplied to the Ukrainian market, which is 10.7 per cent higher than the figure for 2024. Approximately 50% of imports consisted of coated flat steel – 532.8 thousand tonnes, up 13.7% year-on-year. A further 31.6% of shipments, or 344.28 thousand tonnes (+0.9% year-on-year), consisted of hot-rolled flat steel.

Expenditure on flat steel imports for the year as a whole rose by 4.9% year-on-year, to $1.13 billion.