Ukraine increased long rolled products import by 25% y/y in January-June

In  January-June 2023, Ukraine increased the import of long rolled products by 25% compared to the same period in 2022 – up to 88.62 thousand tons. The costs of importing products during this period increased by 22.4% y/y – up to $93.9 million. This is evidenced by State Customs Service’s data.

In June, 24.9 thousand tons of imported long-rolled goods were shipped to Ukrainian consumers, which is 74.1% more compared to the previous month, and 2.9 times more than by June 2022. Import costs increased by 63.9% m/m and 2.3 times a year.

In January-June 2023, the largest amount of angles, shaped and special profiles made of non-alloy steel (Nomenclature – 7216) was imported into Ukraine – 33.64 thousand tons for $29.5 million. In June, 8.5 thousand tons were delivered (+40.9% m/m; +6.8 times y/y) for $7.17 million (+36.7% m/m; +4.7 times y/y).

Also, other rods and bars twisted without further processing (Nomenclature – 7214) 33.5 thousand tons for $26.92 million were imported, in June – 10.49 thousand tons (+2.1 times m/m; +2.9 times y/y) for $8.1 million (+2 times y/y; +2.8 times y/y).

In the third place in terms of the volume of supplies to Ukraine among types of long rolled products are other rods and bars made of alloy steels, hollow rods and bars for drilling made of alloyed or non-alloyed steels (Nomenclature – 7228) – 9.39 thousand tons for $15.4 million. In June, deliveries of such products to Ukraine increased by 32.3% compared to the previous month and by 2.3 times y/y – up to 2.25 thousand tons, and in monetary terms – by 62.2% m/m and 2.5 times y/y – up to $4.17 million.

The largest supplier of angles, shaped and special profiles made of non-alloy steel is Turkiye – 63.3% in monetary terms. Among the main exporters of other twisted rods and bars without further processing are Turkiye and Bulgaria – 61.6% and 31.4%, respectively. Germany (56.3%) and Turkiye (16.7%) shipped more than 70% of other alloy steel bars and rods, hollow bars and drill bars of alloy or non-alloy steels.

As Andriy Glushchenko, the GMK Center analyst, predicted earlier, in the long term the import of rolled steel will increase, especially during post-war reconstruction. Imported supplies will become the main source for meeting domestic demand. In the short term, it can be expected that the volume of imports will stabilize at a certain level that will take into account the existing logistical constraints in the conditions of war.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022, Ukraine reduced the import of long rolled steel by 70.5% compared to 2021 – to 96.06 thousand tons. Import costs for the year decreased by 60.6% y/y – to $113.65 million.

Export of long rolled steel from Ukraine in 2022 amounted to 748.95 thousand tons, which is 59.7% less than in 2021. In monetary terms, deliveries of such products fell by 54.3% m/m – to $23.84 million.