In January-November of this year, Ukrainian enterprises reduced their consumption of rolled metal products by 7.95% year-on-year to 2 million 995.6 thousand tons.
According to a press release issued by Ukrmetallurgprom on Wednesday, 1 million 135.6 thousand tons, or 37.91% of the domestic rolled steel market, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in January-November 2024, steel companies produced 5.741 million tons of rolled metal products (118% compared to the same period in 2023), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, about 3.881 million tons, or 67.6%, were exported. In January-November 2023, the share of exports amounted to 54.4% (2.664 million tons with a total production of 4.864 million tons of rolled steel).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in January-October 2024 amounted to 46.25%, which is significantly higher than in January-November 2023 (41.79%). The share of flat products in export deliveries for 11 months of 2024 is almost at the level of January-November 2023 (39.04% and 38.46%, respectively). The share of long products is significantly lower than in January-October 2023 (14.71% in 2024 vs. 19.74% in 2023).
“In 11 months of 2024, the domestic market capacity amounted to 3254.2 thousand tons, of which 1034.2 thousand tons, or 31.78%, were imported. Thus, for 11 months of 2024, there was a decrease in the domestic market capacity by 7.95% compared to 11 months of 2023, while the share of the import component increased by 6.13%,” the press release states.
The structure of imports in 11 months of 2024 is still characterized by a significant dominance of flat products over long products (78.87% and 19.52%, respectively); in January-November 2023, the dominance of flat products over long products was also significant (75.23% and 23.98%, respectively).
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled steel products in January-November 2024 were the European Union (70.3%), Africa (10.5%) and the rest of Europe (8.1%).
Other European countries ranked first among steel importers in 11 months of 2024 (50.6%), followed by the EU-27 (28.0%) and Asia (20.0%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled steel market increased 2.19 times in 2023 compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons. The company imported 1 million 118.6 thousand tons, or 31.91% of the domestic market for these products.
