USA imported 62.42 thousand tons of pig iron from Ukraine in August

In August 2023, US steelmakers reduced imports of pig iron from Ukraine by 47.8% compared to the previous month, to 62.42 thousand tons. Raw material supplies increased by 2.7 times compared to August 2022. This is evidenced by UN Comtrade data.

In January-August 2023, American steelmakers consumed 810.83 thousand tons of Ukrainian-made pig iron. This is 2.3 times more than in the same period in 2022. At the same time, imports of pig iron from Ukraine to the United States decreased by 26.8% 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 August, shipments dropped sharply to the lowest level since January, when 51.9 thousand tons of pig iron were imported.

At the same time, the March figure is the highest since September 2021, when Ukraine shipped 185.6 thousand tons of pig iron to the United States. In 2022, the average monthly volume of shipments amounted to 45.85 thousand tons. In 2023, this figure was 101.35 thousand tons, while in 2021 it was 140.2 thousand tons.

In January-August 2023, Ukraine exported 934.2 thousand tons of pig iron, down 6.5% compared to the same period in 2022. In August, the figure fell by 74% compared to the previous month and by 72.3% y/y – to 27.8 thousand tons.

Thus, the US is the main consumer of pig iron from Ukraine. The US consumers account for 86.8% of total exports, while the EU accounts for 13.2%.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Ukraine reduced pig iron production by 0.7% in August this year compared to July to 534 thousand tons. Over 8 months, steelmakers produced 3.91 million tons of pig iron, down 24.1% yoy.