Ukraine increased its imports of zinc and zinc products by 27.5% to $58.610 million (in December – $3.802 million). Zinc exports increased to $563 thousand against $130 thousand in 2023, in December – $100 thousand.
Pure zinc metal is used to restore precious metals, protect steel from corrosion and for other purposes.
In 2024, Ukraine increased imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 2.01 times compared to 2023, up to 661.487 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), coke imports in monetary terms increased by 81.9% to $235.475 million during this period.
Imports were mainly from Poland (84.76% of supplies in monetary terms), Colombia (7.74%) and Hungary (2.69%).
Last year, the country exported 1,601 thousand tons of 84.76% coke for $368 thousand to Moldova (99.18%) and Latvia (0.82%), while in January, March, October and November 2024, there were no exports, while in 2023, exports amounted to 3,383 thousand tons for $787 thousand.
As reported, in 2023, Ukraine reduced imports of coke and semi-coke in physical terms by 8.5% compared to 2022 – to 328.697 thousand tons, while imports in monetary terms decreased by 25.8% to $129.472 million.
In 2023, Ukraine exported 3,383 thousand tons of coke, down 12.3% compared to 2022. In monetary terms, it decreased by 22.2% to $787 thousand.
Exports were carried out to Moldova (100% of supplies in monetary terms), while imports were mainly from Poland (88.47%), Colombia (7.72%) and the Czech Republic (3.15%).
In 2024, imports of tin and tin products increased by 16.9% to $3.188 million (in December – $338 thousand). Exports of tin amounted to $389 thousand, compared to $159 thousand in 2023, with no exports in December.
Tin is used mainly as a safe, non-toxic, corrosion-resistant coating in its pure form or in alloys with other metals. The main industrial applications of tin are in white tinplate (tinned iron) for food containers, in solders for electronics, in house pipelines, in bearing alloys, and in coatings made of tin and its alloys. The most important tin alloy is bronze (with copper).
Ukraine increased imports of lead and lead products by 2.4 times to $2.391 million (December: $1.193 million). Exports of lead decreased by 22.9% to $11.401 million (December: $583 thousand).
Lead is currently mainly used in the production of lead-acid batteries for the automotive industry. In addition, lead is used to make bullets and some alloys.
In 2024, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum ore and concentrate (bauxite) in physical terms by 77.4% year-on-year to 35.173 thousand tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, bauxite imports in monetary terms increased by 74% to $4.107 million during the period.
The imports came mainly from Turkey (78.48% of supplies in monetary terms), China (19.48%) and Spain (1.9%).
Ukraine did not re-export bauxite in 2024, as well as in 2023.
As reported, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of aluminum ore and concentrate (bauxite) in physical terms by 81.5% compared to the previous year, to 945.396 thousand tons. Imports of bauxite in monetary terms decreased by 79.6% to $48.166 million. Imports were mainly from Guinea (58.90% of supplies in monetary terms), Brazil (27.19%) and Ghana (7.48%).
In 2023, Ukraine imported 19,830 thousand tons of bauxite worth $2.360 million.
Bauxite is an aluminum ore used as a raw material to produce alumina, which is used to make aluminum. They are also used as fluxes in ferrous metallurgy.
Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MAP) imports bauxite to Ukraine.
In 2024, imports of aluminum and aluminum products increased by 21.7% to $446.006 million (in December – $36.943 million). Exports of aluminum increased by 27.4% to $124.408 million, compared to $8.426 million in December.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its lightness, stamping resistance, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and non-toxicity of its compounds. In particular, these properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the production of cookware, aluminum foil in the food industry, and packaging. The first three properties have made aluminum the main raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (recently it has been replaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber). After the construction and production of packaging, such as aluminum cans and foil, the energy sector is the largest consumer of the metal.
