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three properties have made aluminum the main raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (recently it has been replaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber).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.
In 2024, Ukraine increased its imports of nickel and nickel products by 73.7% compared to 2023, to $26.730 million. In December, imports amounted to $3.058 million. Nickel exports amounted to $602 thousand for the year, and $17 thousand in December.
Nickel is used to make stainless steel and for nickel plating. Nickel is also used in the production of batteries, powder metallurgy and chemicals.
In 2024, Ukrainian enterprises maintained imports of copper and copper products in value terms at the level of the previous year – up to $140.797 million. Copper exports increased by 22.4% to $88.237 million. In December, the country imported copper worth $13.487 million and exported it worth $7.128 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, pipe manufacturing, alloys, medicine and other industries.
In 2024, imports of passenger cars, including cargo and passenger vans and racing cars (UKT FEA code 8703), increased by 8% in monetary terms compared to 2023, to $4.385 billion.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, the top three countries from which cars were imported the most were the United States, Germany and Japan, as in the previous year, while imports of cars from the United States increased by 13.2% to $817.9 million, and their share in the structure of car imports was 18.65% compared to 17.78% a year earlier.
Cars from Germany, whose share in the structure of imports decreased by 0.32 percentage points to 15.56%, were imported for $682.16 million (5.8% more), and the share of cars from Japan decreased to 11.3% from 13.9% a year earlier – they were imported for $495.71 million (12% less).
Imports of passenger cars from other countries amounted to $2.389 billion (54.5% share), while a year earlier it was $2.131 billion (52.47%).
According to the statistics of the State Customs Service, in December, imports of passenger vehicles to Ukraine amounted to $389.67 million, which is 3.5% more than in December 2023.
At the same time, last year Ukraine exported such vehicles for $10.1 million, while a year earlier – for $27.9 million, while most often they were supplied to Canada (for $1.82 million), the United States ($1.79 million) and Germany ($1.54 million), while in 2023 – to Georgia, the UAE and Germany.
As reported, in 2024, a total of $25 billion worth of machinery, equipment, and transport was imported to Ukraine, compared to $19.8 billion a year earlier, and $3.5 billion ($2.9 billion) worth of exports.
