In January–August 2026, Ukraine reduced imports of lead and lead products by 77% compared to the same period last year, down to $1.282 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, imports of lead and lead products in August totaled $98,000.
Exports of lead and lead products in January–August of this year rose by 17.2% to $7.402 million, and in August, they totaled $1.416 million.
As previously reported, in 2025, Ukraine increased its imports of lead and lead products by a factor of 3.3 compared to 2024, reaching $7.801 million. Exports of lead and lead products in 2025 decreased by 17.8% to $9.377 million.
Lead is currently used primarily in the production of lead-acid batteries for the automotive industry. In addition, lead is used in the manufacture of bullets and certain alloys.
In January–August of this year, Ukraine’s mining companies reduced exports of iron ore raw materials (IORM) by 27.2% in volume terms compared to the same period last year—down to 15,774,950 metric tons from 21,679,221 metric tons.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service (SCS), 1,865,697 thousand metric tons of iron ore were exported in August, 1,875,428 thousand metric tons in July, 2,021,299 thousand metric tons in June, in May—2,239,167 thousand metric tons of raw materials, in April—2,163,837 thousand metric tons, in March—2,300,467 thousand metric tons, in February – 1,254,516 thousand metric tons, in January – 2,054,539 thousand metric tons.
Over the first eight months of 2026, foreign exchange earnings from mineral ore exports decreased by 26.1% to $1,206,589 million.
In addition, Ukraine imported 235 metric tons of raw materials worth $68,000 in January–August 2026, whereas in January–August 2025, it imported 86,000 metric tons worth $58,000.
As previously reported, Ukraine’s mining companies reduced ore exports in physical terms by 8% in 2025 compared to the previous year—to 30,995,363 metric tons from 33,699,722 metric tons, and foreign exchange earnings decreased by 16.6%—to $2,337,765 million from $2,803,223 million. Exports were primarily destined for China (44.98% of shipments in monetary terms), Slovakia (17.15%), and Poland (16.09%).
In addition, in 2025, Ukraine imported $95,000 worth of raw materials totaling 130 metric tons from the Netherlands (46.32%), Italy (36.84%), and Norway (13.68%), whereas in the previous year it imported 2,042 thousand metric tons worth $414 thousand.
In January–August 2026, Ukraine increased imports of nickel and nickel products by 8.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching $15.811 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, nickel and nickel product imports totaled $1.967 million in August.
Exports of nickel and nickel products in January–August 2026 totaled $404,000, and in August, $34,000, compared to $746,000 for the first eight months of 2025.
As previously reported, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 2.7% in 2025 compared to 2024, down to $26.011 million. Exports of nickel and nickel products totaled $1.420 million, compared to $602 thousand in 2024.
Nickel is used in the production of stainless steel and for nickel plating. It is also used in battery manufacturing, powder metallurgy, and chemical reagents.
In January–August 2026, Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 31.7% compared with the same period last year, reaching $453.439 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, aluminum and aluminum product imports totaled $64.792 million in August.
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January–August of this year rose by 25.3% compared to the same period last year, reaching $123.934 million; in August, they totaled $14.369 million.
As previously reported, in 2025 Ukraine increased imports of aluminum and aluminum products by 15.3% compared to 2024, reaching $514.098 million. Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in 2025 rose by 22.9% to $152.919 million.
Aluminum is widely used as a structural material. The main advantages of aluminum are its light weight, formability, corrosion resistance, high thermal conductivity, and the non-toxic nature of its compounds. In particular, these properties have made aluminum extremely popular in the production of cookware, aluminum foil in the food industry, and for packaging. The first three properties have made aluminum the primary raw material in the aviation and aerospace industries (though it has recently been displaced by composite materials, primarily carbon fiber). After construction and packaging production—aluminum cans and foil—the energy sector is the largest consumer of this metal.
For a more detailed overview of global aluminum production from 1970 to 2024, watch the video on the Experts Club YouTube channel.
ALUMINUM, EXPERTS CLUB, EXPORTS, IMPORTS, METALLURGY, UKRAINE
In January–August of this year, Ukrainian companies increased their imports of copper and copper products by 13.3% in monetary terms compared to the same period last year—to $139.044 million.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products rose by 22.7% over the eight-month period, reaching $75.529 million.
In August, copper imports totaled $15.771 million, while exports totaled $9.646 million.
As previously reported, in 2025, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 23.2% in monetary terms compared to 2024—to $173.453 million—while exports of copper and copper products rose by 17.7%—to $103.848 million.
Copper is widely used in electrical engineering, in the manufacture of pipes, for creating alloys, in medicine, and in other industries.
Previously, the Experts Club information and analytical center released a video on global copper production and leading producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/_h8iU50z8C0?si=a-XkgGEfeUxseQNa
Ukrainian steelmaking companies reduced pig iron production by 14.8% in January–August of this year compared to the same period last year, down to 4.350 million metric tons.
According to data from the “Ukrmetallurgprom” association, 257,100 metric tons of pig iron were produced in August, 432,200 metric tons in July, 670,600 metric tons in June, 634,400 metric tons in May, in April—554 thousand metric tons, in March—690.2 thousand metric tons, in February—561.9 thousand metric tons, and in January—549.9 thousand metric tons.
In 2025, Ukraine’s steel companies increased pig iron production by 11.2% compared to 2024, reaching 7.884 million metric tons.
In 2024, Ukraine increased pig iron production by 18.1% compared to 2023, reaching 7.090 million metric tons. In 2023, pig iron production fell by 6.1% to 6.003 million metric tons, and in 2022, it fell by 69.8% to 6.391 million metric tons.
In 2021, before the war, 21.165 million metric tons of pig iron were produced, or 103.6% of the 2020 level.
