In May 2025, Ukrainian steelmakers reduced steel production by 13.8% compared to the same period in 2024, to 636 thousand tons from 738 thousand tons, and by 8.1% compared to the previous month, when they produced 692 thousand tons.
Ukraine ranked 21st among 70 countries in the World Steel Association’s ranking of global producers of these products.
According to Worldsteel, in May 2025, steel production declined compared to May 2024 in most of the top ten countries, except for India, the United States, Iran and Brazil.
The top ten steel producing countries in May are as follows: China – 86.550 million tons (“minus” 6.9 by May 2024), India – 13.542 million tons (+9.7%), the United States – 6.985 million tons (+1.7%), Japan – 6.833 million tons (-4.7%), and the Russian Federation – 5.8 million tons (-6.9%), South Korea – 5.080 million tons (-1.7%), Iran – 3.4 million tons (+4.5%), Turkey – 3.148 million tons (-2.8%), Germany – 2.983 million tons (-6.4%) and Brazil – 2.706 million tons (+5%).
Overall, in May this year, steel production decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to 158.775 million tons.
The top ten steel-producing countries for the first five months of this year are as follows: China – 431.630 million tons (-1.7% compared to January-May 2024), India – 67.224 million tons (+8.2%), Japan – 33.832 million tons (-5.2%), the United States – 33.388 million tons (+0.3%), and the Russian Federation – 29.178 million tons (-5.2%), South Korea – 25.585 million tons (-3%), Turkey – 15.414 million tons (-1.4%), Germany – 14.429 million tons (-10.8%), Iran – 14.002 million tons (-5.3%) and Brazil – 13.662 million tons (+0.7%).
Ukraine’s steelmakers reduced steel production by 2.5% year-on-year to 3.061 million tons from 3.139 million tons in the first five months of this year, ranking the country 22nd.
In January-May 2025, global steel production decreased by 1.3% compared to the same period in 2024 to 783.960 million tons.
As reported, in 2024, the top ten steel producing countries among 71 countries were as follows: China – 1 billion 5.090 million tons (-1.7%), India – 149.587 million tons (+6.3%), Japan – 84.009 million tons (-3.4%), the United States – 79.452 million tons (-2.4%), the Russian Federation – 70.690 million tons (-7%), South Korea – 63, 531 million tons (-4.7%), Germany – 37.234 million tons (+5.2%), Turkey – 36.893 million tons (+9.4%), Brazil – 33.741 million tons (+5.3%) and Iran – 30.952 million tons (+0.8%).
In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 839.449 million tons of steel last year, which is 0.9% less than in 2023.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 7.575 million tons of steel in 2024, up 21.6% from 6.228 million tons in 2023. The country was ranked 20th in 2024.
In 2023, China produced 1 billion 19.080 million tons (at the level of the previous year), India – 140.171 million tons (+11.8%), Japan – 86.996 million tons (-2.5%), the United States – 80.664 million tons (+0.2%), the Russian Federation – 75, 8 million tons (+5.6%), South Korea – 66.676 million tons (+1.3%), Germany – 35.438 million tons (-3.9%), Turkey – 33.714 million tons (-4%), Brazil – 31.869 million tons (-6.5%) and Iran – 31.139 million tons (+1.8%). In total, 71 countries produced 1 billion 849.734 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.1% less than in 2022.
At the same time, Ukraine produced 6.228 million tons of steel in 2023, which is 0.6% lower than in 2022. The country was ranked 22nd in 2023.
In 2022, the top ten steel-producing countries were as follows: China – 1.013 billion tons (-2.1%), India – 124.720 million tons (+5.5%), Japan – 89.235 million tons (-7.4%), the United States – 80.715 million tons (-5.9%), the Russian Federation – 71.5 million tons (-7.2%), South Korea – 65, 865 million tons (-6.5%), Germany – 36.849 million tons (-8.4%), Turkey – 35.134 million tons (-12.9%), Brazil – 33.972 million tons (-5.8%), and Iran – 30.593 million tons (+8%).
Ukraine ranked 23rd in 2022 with 6.263 million tons of steel produced (-70.7%).
In total, 64 countries produced 1 billion 831.467 million tons of steel in 2022, which is 4.3% less than in 2021.
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans has announced that the country will provide Ukraine with another €175 million military aid package, including radar systems, self-driving cars and drones, as well as contracts with Ukrainian companies to produce 600,000 drones.
“Russia’s brutal air strikes underscore the importance of our support for Ukraine. We have signed contracts with Ukrainian companies to produce 600,000 drones. I am also announcing a new aid package worth 175 million euros, which includes radar systems, self-driving cars and drones,” he wrote on social media site X on Tuesday.
Later, the Ministry of Defense’s website provided detailed information on the contents of the aid package.
“The Netherlands is giving Ukraine 100 additional radars to detect drones. Also, vehicles will be delivered to the country to transport the wounded. In addition, the Netherlands is allocating additional funds to support drones. The total amount of the aid package is approximately 175 million euros,” the statement said.
According to the ministry, this is in addition to the contracts recently signed with the “Ukrainian industry” for the production of drones worth EUR 500 million.
In early June, it was reported that Brekelmans announced a new support package worth EUR400 million at a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s defense. According to the minister, the package includes more than 50 maritime drones and will include weapons systems, sensors, spare parts, and training.
Finland has announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine worth approximately EUR143 million.
“Finland continues to provide strong support to Ukraine. The new support package includes the first tranches of a €660 million order program from Finnish defense companies,” Defense Minister Antti Hakkänen wrote on social media site X.
He emphasized that with this support program, Finland is helping Ukraine defend itself.
According to a statement on the Finnish Defense Ministry’s website, a new aid package to Ukraine worth approximately EUR143 million is currently being prepared for approval by the Finnish government and president.
To date, the total value of defense equipment supplied by Finland to Ukraine is EUR2.8 billion.
The Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan invites Ukrainian companies to take part in the international exhibition TextileExpo Uzbekistan Autumn 2025, which will be held from September 9 to 11, 2025 in Tashkent at the National Exhibition Complex “Uzexpocentre”.
The exhibition will feature a wide range of products: ready-to-wear, textiles, knitwear, yarns and fabrics. More than 300 companies, including more than 100 Uzbek exporters, will take part in the event, presenting a wide range of textile products.
Participation in the exhibition opens up unique opportunities for establishing business contacts, finding new suppliers and expanding export markets.
For more information about the exhibition and to register, please follow the link.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest telecommunications operator, has announced the launch of its own cloud service for Ukrainian business users – Kyivstar Cloud.
“It is available to small, medium and large businesses, as well as public sector organizations,” the company said in a release on Tuesday.
According to Ilya Poltakov, Kyivstar’s director of new business development, the company sees a strong business demand for affordable solutions and believes that the new platform will enable customers to optimize IT infrastructure costs and scale their business quickly and securely.
According to the release, Kyivstar Cloud can be easily scaled. It has an affordable price, no traffic billing due to local placement, and supports hybrid and multi-cloud models: it can be combined with public and private clouds from different providers, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services.
It is also noted that Kyivstar Cloud will provide an opportunity to independently create and administer a server, virtual machines, an environment for remote access to programs, host CRM, ERP and other systems, store company data, deploy or test software, etc.
According to the report, Kyivstar Cloud is built on Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) edge-to-cloud servers.
“In the future, Kyivstar Cloud can become not only a business service but also a part of nationwide solutions for e-government, medical systems, educational platforms and other digital infrastructure services,” the release says.
“As of March 2025, Kyivstar served about 22.7 million mobile subscribers and more than 1.1 million Home Internet subscribers. The company provides services using a wide range of mobile and fixed technologies, including 4G, Big Data, Cloud solutions, cybersecurity services, digital TV, etc. and has declared investments in new telecom technologies in 2023-2027 of $1 billion.
Kyivstar’s shareholder is the international VEON Group, whose shares are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (New York).
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is helping Ukrainian businesses expand beyond Europe, particularly into Latin America and Africa, ICC Secretary General John W. H. Denton said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“We have already brought delegations of Ukrainian companies to Bogota and Nairobi. This gives them international recognition and helps attract new partners,” he said.
The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of the private sector at the global level. Its headquarters are located in Paris. It has more than 170 member countries and more than 45 million companies, entrepreneurs, and business associations worldwide.
Status: It has observer status at the UN and works closely with the WTO, G20, IMF, and other international organizations.
The ICC develops global standards and rules for doing business (e.g., Incoterms®); resolves international disputes through the ICC International Court of Arbitration, one of the most authoritative arbitration bodies in the world; and promotes free trade, sustainable development, and the digitalization of the economy.
For more details, see the interview at https://interfax.com.ua/news/interview/1082092.html
