Ukrainian steel companies reduced exports of semi-finished products by 39% y/y in January-August

In January-August 2025, Ukrainian steel companies reduced exports of semi-finished steel products by 39.1% compared to the same period in 2024, to 795.77 thousand 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 – 314.3 thousand tons (-26.6% y-o-y), Turkey – 137.22 thousand tons (+14.2% y/y), Poland – 107.04 thousand tons, and Egypt – 51.02 thousand tons (-76.2% y/y).

In August, Ukrainian steel companies exported 90.14 thousand tons of semi-finished products, which is 36% less than in the previous month and 54.6% less than in August 2024.

Last month, 35.94 thousand tons of semi-finished products were shipped to Bulgaria (-9.6% month-on-month; -29.9% y/y), Turkey – 17.15 thousand tons (-52.1% y/y; +12.9% y/y), Poland – 8.56 thousand tons (-70.3% m/m). There were no exports to Egypt.

Export revenue for the first eight months decreased by 40.8% y/y – to $384.21 million, and in August, it fell by 58.7% y/y and 36.1% m/m – to $41.24 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/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.