In January-February of this year, Ukrainian enterprises reduced their consumption of rolled metal products by 11.01% compared to the same period last year, to 495,500 tons.
According to a press release from the Ukrmetallurgprom association on Thursday, 246,900 tons, or 49.83% of the domestic market for rolled metal consumption, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in January-February 2026, metallurgical enterprises produced 796.7 thousand tons of rolled metal (83.2% compared to the same period in 2025), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, about 548.1 thousand tons, or 68.8%, were exported. In January-February 2025, the share of exports was 63.5% (607.6 thousand tons with a total production of rolled metal products of 957.0 thousand tons).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in January-February 2026 is 33.90%, which coincides with the indicator for the two months of 2025 (33.21%). The share of flat products in export deliveries in January-February 2026 significantly exceeds the figure for January-February 2025 (58.58% and 47.78%, respectively). The share of long products is significantly lower than in January-February 2025 (7.52% in 2026 versus 19.01% in 2025).
The structure of imports in January-February 2026 is characterized by a noticeable dominance of flat products over long products (53.54% and 30.21%, respectively), However, in January-February 2025, the dominance of flat rolled products over long products was significantly greater (82.55% and 14.42%, respectively).
In January-February 2026, the domestic market capacity was 495.5 thousand tons of rolled metal, of which 246.9 thousand tons, or 49.83%, were imports. In January-February 2025, the domestic market capacity was 556.8 thousand tons, of which 207.4 thousand tons, or 37.25%, were imported. Thus, in January-February 2026, there was an 11.01% decrease in the capacity of the domestic market compared to January 2025, with a simultaneous 12.58% increase in the share of imports,” the press release states.
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled metal in January-February 2026 are the countries of the European Union (75.8%), other European countries (12.7%), and the CIS (6.4%).
Among metallurgical importers in January-February 2026, other European countries ranked first (44.9%), followed by Asian countries (24.6%) and the EU-27 countries (17.3%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled metal market in 2025 increased by 21.73% compared to the previous year, to 4 million 1.6 thousand tons. During this period, 1 million 603.6 thousand tons were imported, or 40.07% of the domestic rolled metal consumption market.
In 2024, Ukraine’s rolled metal market decreased by 6.26% compared to the previous year, to 3 million 288.4 thousand tons, while in 2023 it increased 2.19 times compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons.
