Ukraine reduced semi-finished products’ exports by 34% y/y in January-May

In January-May 2025, Ukrainian steel companies reduced exports of semi-finished steel products by 34.1% compared to the same period in 2024, to 506,070 tons. This is evidenced by GMK Center calculations based on data from the State Customs Service.

The key destinations for semi-finished products exports during the period were Bulgaria – 207.44 thousand tons (-24.9% y-o-y), Turkey – 84.3 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in January-May 2024), Poland – 72.12 thousand tons t, and Egypt – 21.93 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in January-May 2024). At the same time, deliveries to Egypt have not been made since January, and to Turkey – since April.

In May of this year, Ukrainian metallurgical companies exported 66.03 thousand tons of semi-finished products, which is 54.7% less than in the previous month and 64.3% less than in May 2024. The indicator reached its lowest level since January 2023.

Last month, 26.45 thousand tons of semi-finished products were shipped to Bulgaria (-51.3% month-on-month; -58% year-on-year) and 15.74 thousand tons to Poland (-49% month-on-month). No deliveries were made to Egypt and Turkey.

Export revenue for the first five months decreased by 34.7% y-o-y – to $248.95 million, and in May, it fell by 63.7% y-o-y and 56.2% m-o-m – to $33.67 million.

As GMK Center, reported earlier Ukraine increased its exports of semi-finished steel products by 56.7% in 2024 compared to 2023, from 1.2 million tons to 1.89 million tons.

Export shipments increased due to the resumption of maritime exports to distant markets, in particular to Egypt – 356.17 thousand tons (+1233% y-o-y). Bulgaria received 595,020 tons of products (+30% y/y), and Turkey received 215,760 tons. The main surge in exports occurred in the third quarter (641,900 tons), which contributed to a significant increase in annual export volumes.

Ukrainian steelmakers’ export revenues for the year increased by 52.4% to $927.55 million.