US increased pig iron imports from Ukraine by 74.7% m/m in December

In December 2023, US steel companies increased imports of pig iron from Ukraine by 74.7% compared to November, up to 116.85 thousand tons. The supply of raw materials increased by 2.6 times compared to December 2022. This is evidenced by UN Comtrade data.

In 12 months of 2023, American steelmakers consumed 1.055 million tons of Ukrainian pig iron. This is 91.7% more than in the same period of 2022. At the same time, imports of pig iron from Ukraine to the United States decreased by 37.3% compared to pre-war 2021.

In general, since the beginning of 2023, there has been a sharp increase in Ukrainian pig iron exports to the United States, with shipments amounting to 116.9 thousand tons and 156 thousand tons in January and February, respectively. The figure also exceeded 100 thousand tons in May and July – 123.95 and 119.6 thousand tons, respectively. In September and October, shipments fell sharply to their lowest level since August 2022, when 23.4 kt of pig iron were imported. In November, shipments resumed and exceeded 100 kt again in December.

In 2022, the average monthly shipments amounted to 45.85 thousand tons. In 2023, this figure is 85.29 thousand tons, while in 2021 it was 140.2 thousand tons.

In 2023, Ukraine reduced pig iron exports by 5.8% compared to 2022, to 1.25 million tons. Compared to the pre-war year of 2021, pig iron shipments abroad decreased by 61.4%, or 1.99 million tons.

Thus, the United States is the main consumer of pig iron from Ukraine. The US consumers account for 84% of total exports, while European countries account for 16%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, Ukrainian steelmakers increased rolled steel production by 0.4% year-on-year – to 5.37 million tons. Pig iron production during the year amounted to 6 million tons, down 6.1% compared to 2022, and steel production amounted to 6.23 million tons (-0.6% y/y).