Ukraine increased the import of long rolled products by 15% m/m in October

Ukrainian consumers' spending on the import of long-rolled goods decreased by 2.2% m/m

In October 2023, Ukraine increased the import of long rolled products by 14.8% compared to September 2023 – to 18.43 thousand tons. Import costs for the month decreased by 2.2% m/m – to $16.4 million. This is evidenced by State Customs Service’s data.

Compared to October 2022, in October 2023, Ukraine increased the costs of importing long rolled products by 2.2 times. Import volumes increased by 4.1 times.

In January-October 2023, Ukraine consumed 148.6 thousand tons of imported long-rolled steel worth $154.5 million. The costs of importing foreign products increased by 25.1% compared to the same period last year, and the volume of deliveries – by 36, 9%.

In January-October 2023, Ukraine imported the most other rods and bars, not further processed (HS 7214) – 58.58 thousand tons for $45.03 million, in October – 7.92 thousand tons (+67.3% m/m) for $5.77 million (+59.8% m/m). The company also imported angles, shapes and special profiles made of unalloyed steel (HS 7216) – 55.27 thousand tons for $48.09 million. In October, the company supplied 7.95 thousand tons (+5.5% m/m) for $6.29 million (+0.9% m/m).

Other rods and bars made of alloy steels, hollow rods and bars for drilling made of alloy or non-alloy steels (HS 7228) ranked third in terms of long products supplied to Ukraine, with 13.4 thousand tons worth $24.05 million. In October, shipments of such products to Ukraine fell by 0.5% month-on-month – to 0.88 kt, and in monetary terms by 35.7% m/m  – to $1.53 million.

Turkiye is the largest supplier of angles, shapes and special profiles made of unalloyed steel, accounting for 69.8% in value terms. Turkiye and Poland are the main exporters of other rods and bars, not further processed, with 63% and 20.1% respectively. Germany (41.2%) and Turkiye (19.2%) shipped more than 60% of other bars and rods made of alloy steels, hollow bars and drill bars made of alloy or non-alloy steels.

As GMK Center analyst Andriy Glushchenko previously predicted, imports of rolled steel will increase in the long term, especially during the post-war reconstruction period. Imports will become the main source to meet domestic demand. In the short term, we can expect imports to stabilize at a certain level that will take into account the existing logistical constraints in the 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.