Ukraine reduced exports of semi-finished products to a 9-month low in November

In November 2024, Ukrainian steel enterprises reduced exports of semi-finished products by 37.7% compared to the previous month, to 89.9 thousand tons. The figure increased by 28% compared to November last year. This is according to the State Customs Service.

November exports fell to their lowest level since March this year, and a sharp downward trend has been observed for the second month in a row. In September alone, exports were estimated at 224.1 thousand tons, while now this figure has fallen by almost 60%.

The industry is affected by both external and internal factors. In particular, the slowdown in the global steel market, which has worsened since the beginning of the fourth quarter, is reducing demand for Ukrainian semi-finished products. Thus, in November, Bulgaria reduced imports of the relevant products from Ukraine by 39.9% m/m, while Poland restored them to 10.5 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in October). At the same time, Egypt did not import during this period, while in October – 20.4 thsd tonnes, and in September – 110.9 thsd tonnes. Turkey consumed 26.4 thousand tons of semi-finished products of Ukrainian origin over the month (+26.6% m/m). Internal levers of pressure on steelmakers include the weakness of the country’s energy system, rising energy and logistics costs, lack of qualified personnel, etc.

In January-November 2024, Ukraine exported 1.76 million tons of semi-finished steel products, up 59.7% compared to the same period in 2023. The company exported 543.24 thousand tons of products to Bulgaria, 345.85 thousand tons to Egypt, 205.73 thousand tons to Turkey, 128.38 thousand tons to Poland and 118.08 thousand tons to Italy.

Revenue from exports of semi-finished products in January-November 2024 increased by 54.8% y/y – to $870.36 million, and in November it fell by 38.8% m/m and increased by 30.4% y/y – to $42.4 million.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukraine reduced exports of semi-finished products by 36.7% compared to 2022, to 1.203 million tons. Compared to the pre-war year 2021, shipments of semi-finished products abroad decreased by 82.2%, or 5.57 million tons. Revenues of domestic enterprises from the export of semi-finished products last year decreased by 48.9% compared to 2022, to $608.52 million.

In 2023, the largest consumers of Ukrainian semi-finished products were Bulgaria – 36.7%, Poland – 23%, and Italy – 9.6%.