Kazakhstan plans to ban the export of non-ferrous metals by all modes of transport until December 31, 2025, according to the press service of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic.
The press service specified that the initiative was considered on Friday at a meeting of the interdepartmental commission on foreign trade policy and participation in international economic organizations.
“The interdepartmental commission supported the introduction of a ban on the export of non-ferrous metal blanks and ingots from Kazakhstan by all modes of transport until December 31, 2025. The ban applies to unprocessed copper, aluminum slabs and billets, and lead ingots,” the statement said.
As explained by the press service, this measure is aimed at “providing the domestic market with strategic raw materials, preventing the export of low value-added products, and stimulating the processing of non-ferrous metals within the country.”
In addition, the meeting decided to reduce the export customs duty on gallium, which previously stood at 10%, to zero. “The measure is aimed at stimulating gallium production in Kazakhstan and developing export potential,” the press service said.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry clarified that gallium has not been produced in the country in recent years, but Kazakhstan has the necessary resource potential to enter this market and can occupy a niche in the global supply chain.
“This, in turn, will create opportunities for growth in export activity, increase foreign exchange earnings, and expand the presence of Kazakhstani producers in foreign markets,” the ministry said.
Currently, Kazakhstan has a ban on the export of ferrous and non-ferrous metal scrap and waste from the republic. It was first introduced on May 6, 2022, and has been extended several times, most recently in April this year.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and analytical center created a video analysis of the potential for mineral extraction in Ukraine. You can learn more about the prospects for rare earth element extraction in Ukraine and the country’s mineral resources in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHeBfpywpQc&t
The US continues to occupy a leading position among buyers of Ukrainian recycled pig iron: in the first half of 2025, the US market accounted for more than 77% of foreign exchange earnings from exports of this product.
According to data from the State Customs Service, Ukraine increased its pig iron exports by 47.5% in volume terms in January–June, to 883,200 tons, compared with 598,900 tons in the same period of 2024. In monetary terms, exports grew by 54.6% to $349.4 million.
The main destinations for exports in the first half of the year were:
The US — 77.36% of export revenue;
Italy — 11.96%;
Turkey — 4.91%.
Earlier, on March 12, 2025, the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Ukrainian metal products, with the exception of cast iron. This allowed Ukrainian exporters to maintain their competitive position in the US market and, as statistics show, increase supplies.
At the end of 2024, Ukraine exported 1.29 million tons of processed cast iron worth $500.3 million, of which 72.6% went to the US. Thus, in 2025, the US not only retained its status as a key trading partner in this segment, but also strengthened its importance for the Ukrainian metallurgical sector.
In June 2025, Ukraine exported 14.5% more electricity than it imported, which happened for the first time since October 2023, according to the Ukrainian energy and climate think tank DiXi Group, citing Energy Map.
“In June, electricity exports exceeded imports by 14.5%. This happened for the first time since 2023: the last time sales exceeded purchases was in October of the year before last,” DiXi Group said in a Facebook post.
A total of 233.4 thousand MWh were exported in June, which is 2.6 times higher than in May.
More than half of exports went to Hungary – 52.4% or 122.3 thousand MWh.
Another 16.6% (38.7 thousand MWh) went to Romania, 15.9% (37.2 thousand MWh) to Slovakia, 14.7% (34.2 thousand MWh) to Moldova, and 0.4% (0.9 thousand MWh) to Poland.
Exports were carried out daily, gradually reaching a peak on June 27 – 15.8 thousand MWh per day.
DiXi Group experts note that it was on that day that supplies to Poland resumed after a break of more than three months.
Imports increased by 5% compared to May, reaching 203.9 thousand MWh, of which 43% (87.7 thousand MWh) came from Hungary, 24% (48.8 thousand MWh) came from Slovakia, 14.7% (30,000 MWh) from Poland, 12.4% (25,300 MWh) from Romania, and 5.9% (12,000 MWh) from Moldova.
“With imports compared to exports, everything was the opposite: from high figures, the largest of which, 13.7 thousand MWh, fell on June 9, they moved to lower ones. On June 16, the lowest amount was purchased, namely 1.5 thousand MWh. Supplies fell by 6-25% from all countries except Slovakia and Hungary, where they increased by 35% and 13%, respectively,” explains DiXi Group.
Analysts note that in June last year, a record 858.4 thousand MWh were imported, which is more than four times higher than the corresponding result for 2025.
As reported, in May 2025, Ukraine reduced electricity exports by 41% compared to April, to 89.1 thousand MWh, while increasing imports by 4%, to 194.1 thousand MWh.
In January-May 2025, Ukraine imported aluminum and aluminum products worth $206.628 million, up 20.2% compared to the same period in 2024. In May, imports of aluminum products amounted to $40.340 million.
Over the same period, aluminum exports increased by 31.9% to $57.761 million. In May, the company exported products worth $12.698 million.
In 2024, aluminum imports amounted to $446.006 million (+21.7% compared to 2023), and exports amounted to $124.408 million (+27.4%). In 2023, Ukraine imported aluminum products worth $366.463 million and exported $97.616 million.
In January-May this year, Ukraine reduced exports of semi-finished carbon steel products in physical terms by 34.1% year-on-year to 506,071 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, exports of carbon steel semi-finished products fell by 34.7% to $248.953 million in monetary terms.
The main exports were mainly to Bulgaria (40.43% of supplies in monetary terms), Turkey (15.96%) and Poland (15.07%).
During the period, Ukraine imported 3,303 thousand tons of semi-finished products worth $2.687 million, mainly from the Czech Republic (72.47%), Italy (26.26%) and Romania (0.93%).
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine increased exports of carbon steel semi-finished products in physical terms by 56.7% compared to 2023 – up to 1 million 886.090 thousand tons, while revenue in monetary terms increased by 52.4% to $927.554 million. The main exports were made to Bulgaria (32.06% of supplies in monetary terms), Egypt (18.50%) and Turkey (11.14%).
In 2024, Ukraine imported 306 tons of semi-finished products worth $278 thousand from the Czech Republic (88.13%), Romania (7.19%), and Poland (2.88%), while in 2023 it imported 96 tons worth $172 thousand.
In January-April of this year, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates in physical terms by 91.4% compared to the same period last year, to 277 tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, in monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 90.6% to $496 thousand.
The main exports went to Uzbekistan (35.61% of shipments in monetary terms), Turkey (35.01%), and Egypt (29.38%).
In the first five months of 2025, Ukraine imported 24 tons of titanium-containing ore worth $39,000 from China (94.87%, deliveries took place in January) and Uzbekistan (5.13%, deliveries took place in May).
In addition, in the first five months of 2025, Ukraine exported 1,099 tons of niobium, tantalum, vanadium, and zirconium ores and concentrates worth $1.704 million to Spain (61.22%), Italy (17.65%), and Germany (11.17%). to Spain ($1.704 million, 61.22%), Italy ($1.06 million, 17.65%), and Germany ($100,000, 11.17%). At the same time, the country imported 104 tons of such ores worth $258 thousand from Spain (55.17%), China (28.66%), and the Czech Republic (11.85%).
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine reduced exports of titanium-containing ores in physical terms by 37.5% compared to the previous year, to 7,284 tons. In monetary terms, exports of titanium-containing ores and concentrates decreased by 40% to $11.654 million. The main exports were to Turkey (62.82% of shipments in monetary terms), Egypt (7.38%), and Poland (6.93%).
In 2024, Ukraine imported 314 tons of titanium-containing ore worth $492 thousand from China (87.78%), Vietnam (6.11%), and Senegal (also 6.11%).
At the same time, experts pointed to discrepancies in statistics on exports of titanium-containing ores.
However, in response to a request from Interfax-Ukraine, the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine reported that complete data on exports of titanium raw materials is not provided due to restrictions on the volume of export and import operations with military and dual-use goods, which are reflected in aggregate form under “Other goods.”
They explained that, in particular, deliveries of titanium-containing ores from companies differ from the SCS data.
“We would like to inform you that these deliveries are included in the statistical exports from Ukraine, but are not reflected in the foreign trade statistics published by the State Customs Service (…) under commodity code 2614 ”Titanium ores and concentrates” in view of the following (…) In accordance with the provisions (…) when protecting data for confidentiality purposes, any information considered confidential shall be reported in full at the next higher level of product data aggregation,” the State Customs Service explained in its response to the agency.
It was clarified that information on customs clearance and movement across the customs border of Ukraine of goods subject to export control is included in the list of information containing official information in the State Customs Service, in accordance with the relevant order.
In Ukraine, titanium-containing ores are currently mined mainly by PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (OGHK), which manages the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipropetrovsk region) and the Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGZK, Zhytomyr region), as well as LLC “Mezhirichensky GZK” and LLC “Valky-Ilmenit” (both LLCs are located in Irshansk, Zhytomyr region). In addition, the production and commercial firm Velta (Dnipro) built a mining and processing plant at the Birzulivskoye deposit with a capacity of 240,000 tons of ilmenite concentrate per year.
