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.
In January-May this year, Ukraine’s metallurgical enterprises increased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 3.62% year-on-year to $1 billion 262.746 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS) on Friday, ferrous metals accounted for 7.45% of total export revenues during this period, compared to 7.24% in January-May 2024.
In May, export earnings amounted to $267.702 million, while in the previous month it was $266.358 million.
At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 10.1% to $663.150 million in January-May 2025. In May, products worth $159.463 million were imported.
In addition, in January-May 2025, Ukraine increased exports of metal products by 6.1% to $427.902 million. In May, they were exported for $97.382 million.
Imports of metal products decreased by 2.3% to $413.680 million over the same period. In May, these products were imported for $86.712 million.
As reported earlier, in 2024, Ukraine’s steelmaking companies increased revenues from ferrous metal exports by 16.9% year-on-year to $3 billion 96.343 million. At the same time, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 13.1% last year to $1 billion 478.814 million.
In 2023, Ukraine reduced revenues from exports of ferrous metals by 41.6% compared to 2022, to $2 billion 647.72 million, with ferrous metals accounting for 7.3% of total revenues from exports of goods during this period, while in 2022 the share was 10.3%. At the same time, in 2023, Ukraine increased imports of similar products by 37% to $1 billion 307.05 million.
In addition, in 2023, Ukraine decreased exports of metal products by 16.6% year-on-year to $877.92 million. At the same time, imports of metal products increased by 40.3% to $902.57 million during this period.
Since the beginning of the year, exports of wood and wood products from Ukraine amounted to 1.42 million tons worth $671.8 million. Compared to the same period in 2024, when 1.34 million tons were exported for $593.9 million, the volume of exports increased by 81,700 tons, or 6%. At the same time, in monetary terms, there was an increase of $77.9 million, or 13%.
Pine products account for the largest share, 68.6%, indicating high demand for this type of wood on foreign markets. Spruce timber ranks second with 19%, followed by oak with 6.6% of the total volume.
At the same time, since the beginning of the year, customs authorities have detected violations amounting to over UAH 31.4 million.
Flour and cereal producers are concerned about a reduction in flour exports to the European Union after the expiry of autonomous trade measures on June 6, as 75% of their exports currently go to the EU, Rodion Rybchinsky, director of the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association, said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Starting from June 6, we have the opportunity to supply a total of 583,300 tons of wheat and wheat flour to the EU market by the end of the year. But since the quota is combined, I am not sure that we will be able to fill it. It is much easier for wheat exporters to find buyers in the EU and fill their quota,” he said.
Rybchynsky added that the industry association continues to use all possible communication channels to convey to European officials the need to allocate a separate quota for Ukrainian flour for export to the EU or to remove it altogether.
The head of the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association stated that before the war, there were 678 enterprises specializing in grain processing in Ukraine, but in 2022, 192 enterprises were destroyed and remained in the occupied territories. As of the end of 2024, 88 enterprises have been restored.
At the same time, according to his information, exports of flour and cereals have fallen by 50% since the start of the war. Among the reasons, the expert cited a reduction in production and changes in logistics: whereas exports used to be mainly by sea, since the start of the war they have been forced to switch to road and rail transport, which are more expensive than sea transport.
Due to problems with transporting products across the Black Sea, container shipping has not yet been fully restored. As a result, the geography of grain processing product sales has changed significantly since the beginning of the war: 75% of products are exported to the European market, of which 55% go to EU countries, 15% to the Middle East, 4% to Africa, and 2% to Asia, according to the head of the Ukrainian Flour Millers Association.
As reported, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said in comments to journalists that one of the government’s strategies in negotiations with the European Commission will be to request that the established quotas be divided by commodity codes.
The European Commission has approved quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, which will be in effect from June 6 until the end of 2025 as part of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement. According to a document published on the EU website, by the end of 2025, Ukraine will be able to supply the EU market under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area in a 7/12 month mode (7/12) with wheat, flour, and meslin – 583,330 tons , corn – 379,167 thousand tons, barley – 204,167 thousand tons, poultry meat – 52,511 thousand tons, beef – 7 thousand tons, eggs – 3,500 tons, milk and cream – 5,833 tons, dry milk – 2,917 tons, butter – 1,750 tons.
Chinese authorities have issued temporary export licenses to companies supplying rare earth metals to Detroit’s “big three” automakers, Ford Motor, General Motors, and Stellantis, Reuters reports, citing informed sources.
At least some of these licenses are valid for six months. The specific metals and volumes covered by the licenses have not been disclosed.
In April, China decided to restrict exports of a wide range of rare earth metals. The country accounts for about 90% of global rare earth metal production.
In May, Ford was forced to halt production of its Explorer SUVs at its Chicago plant for a week due to a shortage of these metals.
US President Donald Trump, who spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping the day before, expressed hope that trade in rare earth metals would return to normal.
According to one of Reuters’ sources, last week the Chinese authorities also issued export permits to suppliers of one of the US electronics companies, and this week to suppliers of a US non-automotive company.
Ford shares rose 2% in Friday trading, GM shares rose 0.9%. Stellantis shares added 2.4% in New York.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has increased its forecast for Ukraine’s wheat exports by 0.5 million tons to 16.0 million tons, leaving corn exports unchanged at 22.0 million tons and wheat and corn production at 23.4 million tons and 26.8 million tons, respectively.
According to the April forecast, the global wheat market in the 2024-2025 marketing year is expected to decrease slightly in production, consumption, and trade volume compared to the previous month’s forecast, while ending stocks are expected to increase.
World wheat production is expected to decline by 0.3 million tons to 796.9 million tons due to lower production estimates in Saudi Arabia and the EU (-0.3 million tons to 121.0 million tons).
World wheat consumption is projected 1.4 million tons lower to 805.2 million tons, mainly due to lower food, seed, and industrial use in India and China.
World trade in MY 2024/2025 is projected 1.3 million tons lower to 206.8 million tons, mainly due to lower export forecasts for Russia (-1.0 million tons to 44.0 million tons), Australia (-0.5 million tons to 25.5 million tons), and the EU (-0.5 million tons to 26.5 million tons), only partially offset by higher exports for Canada (+0.5 million tons to 26.5 million tons) and Ukraine (+0.5 million tons to 16.0 million tons).
Exports in MY 2024/2025 are expected to be 7% lower than in the previous year.
Projected world ending stocks for MY 2024/2025 are increased by 0.6 million tons to 260.7 million tons, as increases in stocks in India, the Russian Federation, the US and the EU are partially offset by lower stocks in China. World stocks for MY 2024/2025 are now 3% below the previous year and the lowest since MY 2015/2016.
The updated forecasts for the global corn market in MY 2024/2025 assume higher production, consumption, trade volumes and a corresponding reduction in ending stocks.
The forecast for world corn production increased by 0.9 million tons to 1,215.1 million tons. Increases in the EU (+1.3 million tons to 59.3 million tons due to increased harvests in Poland, Croatia, France and Germany, partially offset by decreases in Romania and Bulgaria), Tanzania and Honduras were partially offset by decreases in Moldova, Cambodia and Kenya.
The world export forecast rises by 2.3 million tons to 188.7 million tons. Major changes in world trade for MY 2024/2025 include an increase in projected corn exports for the United States (+2.5 million tons to 64.8 million tons) and a decrease for Pakistan.
Corn ending stocks declined by 1.3 million tons to 287.7 million tons, reflecting lower stocks in the U.S. and higher stocks in South Korea, Pakistan.
