Ukraine reduced the export of semi-finished products by 24% m/m in October

In October 2023, Ukrainian steel enterprises reduced the export of semi-finished products by 23.6% compared to the previous month – to 110.12 thousand tons. The income of producers from exports for the month fell by 19.9% ​​m/m – to $52.9 million. This is evidenced by State Customs Service’s data.

Compared to October 2022, in October 2023, steel enterprises of Ukraine increased the volume of exports of semi-finished products by 59.6%, and revenue by 34.5%.

In January-October 2023, Ukraine exported 1.034 million tons of semi-finished products worth $529.58 million. Export volumes of slabs and billets decreased by 40.4% compared to the same period in 2022, and revenue from shipments decreased by 51.6%.

The main importers of semi-finished products from Ukraine in January-October 2023 were Bulgaria (35.4% of deliveries in monetary terms), Poland (23.8%) and Italy (10%).

The export of semi-finished products from Ukraine has been gradually recovering and growing since the beginning of 2023. The largest volume of shipments was recorded in May of this year, when Ukrainian steelmakers exported 152,000 tons of slabs and billets. In September, exports remained at a high level (144.05 thousand tons) after the rate of shipment slowed down to 100-120 thousand tons in June-August. In October, the pace of exports decreased again.

In October, Ukrainian steelmakers increased steel production by 2.5% compared to September, to 572 thousand tons. In January-October, 5.16 million tons of steel were produced (-11.7% y/y).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2022 export of semi-finished products from Ukraine decreased by 72% compared to 2021 – to 1.89 million tons. In monetary terms, the export of semi-finished products fell by 70.9% y/y last year – to $1.19 billion. The main importers of Ukrainian semi-finished products in 2022 were Bulgaria (25.55%), Poland (13.97%) and Italy (12.13%).