Ukraine reduced pig iron exports by 9.6% y/y in January

The key export destination is the United States. A small portion was exported to the EU

In January 2025, Ukrainian steel enterprises reduced exports of commercial pig iron by 9.6% compared to January 2024, to 128.59 thousand tons. Shipments increased by 1.6% month-on-month. This is according to GMK Center’s calculations based on data from the State Customs Service.

The United States remains the key export destination for Ukrainian pig iron, accounting for 115.35 thousand tons or 89.7% of total shipments. A small portion of shipments went to the EU countries – the Netherlands (4.97 thousand tons) and Poland (4.48 thousand tons).

Ukrainian companies’ revenue from pig iron exports in January amounted to $51.58 million, up 3.2% y/y and 3.4% m/m.

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 steelmakers’ 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%.