December is traditionally one of the most successful months for Ukrainian cheese producers in terms of sales, but in 2025, not all companies in the industry will be able to boast positive dynamics, according to the analytical publication Infagro.
“Although cheese consumption in Ukraine has likely increased, the main growth has been in imported products,” analysts noted, adding that this is due to the significant price advantage of European cheeses.
Importers purchase products in EU countries at a significantly lower price than they are produced in Ukraine, and experts predict that their cost will not increase in the near future.
The agency noted that cheese imports to Ukraine increased in November, although not as much as predicted. Imports were up 10% compared to October. Imports of “white” cheeses increased by 4%. At the same time, imports of processed cheeses decreased by 18%.
Experts hope that imports will grow more actively in December, as was the case last year.
They recalled that cheese consumption in Ukraine has not yet returned to pre-war levels, which complicates competition for domestic producers. According to analysts’ estimates, in 2025, sales of semi-hard cheeses on the domestic market will be 17% lower than in 2021. At the same time, the average Ukrainian, as before the war, consumes about 2 kg of such cheese per year, and about a quarter of this volume is European-made cheese.
“Exports of semi-hard cheeses from Ukraine remain half the size of imports. At the same time, export prices exceed import prices. In November, exports of processed cheese products also fell sharply to their lowest level since the beginning of the year,” Infagro reported.
Imports of trucks to Ukraine in January-November 2025 increased by 7.5% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2024, reaching $897.2 million, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published data, the growth rate of imports of these vehicles has slowed down again, in particular, over 10 months it amounted to 8% compared to the same period in 2024.
In particular, in November, truck imports increased by 2.2% compared to November 2024, to $77.5 million, which, however, is 2% less than in October 2025.
The largest number of trucks in 11 months was imported from Poland – $155.7 million (8% less than last year), France – $151.2 million (45.6% more), and the United States – $105 million (16.5% more).
Imports of trucks from all other countries in January-November increased by 3% to $485.3 million.
At the same time, according to statistics, Ukraine exported only $6 million worth of trucks in 11 months, mainly to Turkey (64.3% of exports), Romania, and Moldova, while a year earlier, exports were even more insignificant ($2.9 million), mainly to Moldova, Poland, and Kazakhstan.
As reported, in 2024, imports of trucks to Ukraine in monetary terms increased by 30% compared to 2023, to $947.84 million, with most of them imported from Poland (almost 20%).
In January-November 2025, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 0.3% compared to the same period in 2024, to $23.592 million. In November, imports of nickel and nickel products amounted to $2.546 million.
Exports of nickel and nickel products in January-November 2025 amounted to $1.245 million (in November — $113,000) compared to $585,000 in the first 11 months of 2024.
In addition, Ukraine increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 73.7% in 2024 compared to 2023, to $26.730 million.
At the same time, in 2023, it reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 74.2% compared to 2022, to $15.391 million.
Exports of nickel and nickel products in 2024 amounted to $602,000, while in 2023 they amounted to $532,000, and in 2022 — $1.268 million.
Nickel is used in the production of stainless steel and for nickel plating. Nickel is also used in the production of batteries, in powder metallurgy, and in chemical reagents.
In January-November 2025, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 15.1% compared to the same period in 2024, to $470.783 million. In November, imports amounted to $38.698 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January-November 2025 increased by 21.7% to $141.114 million. In November, aluminum exports amounted to $12.971 million.
In addition, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 21.7% in 2024 compared to 2023, to $446.006 million.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in 2024 increased by 27.4% to $124.408 million.
In 2023, exports of aluminum and aluminum products increased by 0.7% compared to 2022, reaching $97.616 million, while imports increased by 7.7%, reaching $366.463 million.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its lightness, malleability, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and the non-toxicity of its compounds.
In particular, these properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the manufacture of cookware, aluminum foil in the food industry, and for 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 construction and packaging production—aluminum cans and foil—the largest consumer of metal is the energy industry.
The volume of tractor imports to Ukraine in January-November 2025 amounted to $762.55 million, which is 5.5% more than in the same period of 2024 ($722.5 million), according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the published statistics, tractors were mainly imported from the United States (21.8% of total imports of this equipment, or $166 million), China (17% or $130 million), and Germany (16.6% or $126.4 million), while last year Germany was the leader ($110 million), China was second ($100.56 million), and the US was third ($97.3 million).
At the same time, imports from other countries in January-November decreased by 18% to $340.31 million.
In November this year, tractor imports to Ukraine decreased by 4% compared to November 2024, to $59.5 million, which is also 19.4% less than in October 2025.
Since the beginning of this year, as reported, tractor imports to Ukraine have shown negative dynamics: in January, they were one-third lower than in January 2024, but by the end of the first half of the year, the figures were almost equal to last year’s.
According to statistics from the State Customs Service, this year, in January-November, tractors worth almost $6 million were exported, mainly to Romania (22.4%), Belgium, and Germany, while last year during this period, exports amounted to $5 million, mainly to Moldova (25.6%), Kazakhstan, and the Czech Republic.
As reported, tractor imports to Ukraine in 2024 amounted to almost $784 million, 5.6% less than a year earlier, while exports amounted to $5.44 million compared to $5.74 million.
In January-November of this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 25.8% compared to the same period last year, to $160.184 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine on Friday, exports of copper and copper products during the specified period increased by 15.3% to $93.531 million.
In November, copper imports amounted to $12.131 million, while exports amounted to $9.511 million.
As reported, in 2024, Ukraine maintained imports of copper and copper products in value terms at the previous year’s level — up to $140.797 million, while exports grew by 22.4% — up to $88.237 million.
In 2023, Ukraine increased imports of copper and copper products by 2.2 times compared to 2022, to $140.795 million, while exports decreased by 20.1%, to $72.078 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, in the production of pipes, for creating alloys, in medicine, and in other industries.
