USA imported 119.6 thousand tons of pig iron from Ukraine in July

In July 2023, the steel companies of the USA increased the import of pig iron from Ukraine by 40.2% compared to the previous month – up to 119.6 thousand tons. Compared to July 2022, supplies of raw materials increased by 4.7 times. This is evidenced by UN Comtrade’s data.

In January-July 2023, American steelmakers consumed 748,400 tons of Ukrainian-produced pig iron. This is 2.3 times more compared to the same period in 2022. At the same time, in comparison with the pre-war year 2021, the import of pig iron from Ukraine to the USA decreased by 32.5%.

In general, since the beginning of 2023, there has been a sharp increase in the export of Ukrainian pig iron to the USA, in particular, in January and February, the volume of shipments amounted to 116.9 thousand tons and 156 thousand tons, respectively. Also, the indicator exceeded 100 thousand tons in May and July – 123.95 and 119.6 thousand tons, respectively.

At the same time, the March indicator is the highest since September 2021, when Ukraine shipped 185.6 thousand tons of pig iron to the United States. During 2022, the average monthly volume of shipments was 45.85 thousand tons. In 2023, this figure will be 106.9 thousand tons, while in 2021 it will be 140.2 thousand tons.

In January-July 2023, Ukraine exported 906.4 thousand tons of pig iron, which is 16.6% more compared to the same period in 2022. In July, the indicator fell by 37% compared to the previous month and by 25.4% y/y – to 106.7 thousand tons.

Thus, the USA is the main consumer of pig iron from Ukraine. American consumers are shipped 82.6% of total exports, the EU accounts for 17.4%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Ukraine in July 2023 increased pig iron production by 10.7% compared to June 2023 – up to 538,000 tons. In 7 months, steelmakers produced 3.37 million tons of pig iron, which is 29.9% less year-on-year.