Ukraine reduced pig iron exports by 60% m/m in April

In April 2025, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises exported 120.18 thousand tons of commercial pig iron, down 60.1% from the previous month, when the record monthly volume of shipments was reached in December 2021. Exports increased by 2.1 times compared to April 2024. This is according to GMK Center’s calculations based on data from the State Customs Service.

The decline in pig iron exports in April reflects a slowdown in demand for Ukrainian products in key markets. In particular, 115.52 thousand tons of pig iron were shipped to the United States (-52.9% m/m), 3.39 thousand tons to Poland (-1.6% m/m), while Italy did not import any products from Ukraine.

In January-April 2025, the export volumes increased by 37.4% compared to the same period of 2024 – to 574.06 thsd tonnes. The United States accounted for 476.02 thousand tons (+46.7% y/y) of supplies, Italy – 65.55 thousand tons (+106.7% y/y), Poland – 14.5 thousand tons (-27.3% y/y).

Revenues from pig iron exports in April amounted to $46.89 million, compared to $118.92 million in March and $21.07 million in April 2024.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2024, Ukraine increased exports of commercial pig iron by 3.4% compared to 2023, from 1.25 million tons to 1.29 million tons. At the same time, exports amounted to 1.32 million tons in 2022 and 3.23 million tons in 2021. Ukrainian metallurgists’ export revenue increased by 6.1% to $500.34 million over the year.

Export destinations were diversified during the year. In particular, the United States became the main consumer of Ukrainian pig iron, mainly due to the resumption of maritime logistics for Ukrainian mining and metals cargo. At the same time, exports to the EU declined due to market stagnation. Thus, 940.21 thousand tons (+514% y/y) were shipped to the United States, 102.49 thousand tons (+617%) to Turkey, 93.28 thousand tons (+61.9%) to Italy, and 63.05 thousand tons (-90%) to Poland. In 2023, Poland consumed more than half of Ukraine’s pig iron exports (633.34 thousand tons), while in 2024 it was only 5%.