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
In August 2026, Ukraine significantly reduced purchases of motor gasoline from the southern direction: imports from Romania decreased by approximately one third, while those from Greece fell by 40%, according to calculations by the Experts Club analytical center and data from the A-95 Consulting Group.
Supplies of Romanian gasoline amounted to 23.4 thousand tonnes compared with 34 thousand tonnes in July.
Imports from Greece decreased to 15 thousand tonnes from 24.9 thousand tonnes a month earlier.
Thus, total supplies from the two countries decreased over the month from approximately 58.9 thousand to 38.4 thousand tonnes.
“The main reason for the significant drop in imports from the south was the price factor. In August, when the market was no longer threatened by a shortage, companies reduced purchases of more expensive fuel from Romania and Greece,” the A-95 Consulting Group reported.
A similar trend was also observed in the diesel fuel market.
At the same time, the bulk of Ukrainian gasoline imports continued to arrive from the northwestern direction. In August, Lithuania supplied 51.8 thousand tonnes of gasoline, while Poland supplied 40.1 thousand tonnes.
These two countries accounted for about 60% of total imports.
Overall, gasoline supplies from abroad in August amounted to 152 thousand tonnes, which is 7% less than a year earlier. Since the beginning of 2026, Ukraine has imported 1.12 million tonnes of gasoline — 16% more than in January-August 2025.
The decline in purchases from the southern direction shows that after supply stabilized, Ukrainian traders began more actively redistributing flows in favor of cheaper European sources.
In August of this year, 4,200 electric vehicles (new and used) were added to Ukraine’s vehicle fleet, which is 47% fewer than in the same month last year, according to a report by “Ukravtoprom” on its Telegram channel.
At the same time, compared to July of this year, electric vehicle registrations rose by 7.7%.
As usual, passenger cars accounted for the majority of registered electric vehicles—4,074, of which 503 were new (-73%) and 3,571 were used (-37%).
Of the 160 commercial BEVs, only two were new (in August 2025, 24 out of 175 were new).
The most popular new electric vehicles in July 2026 were the BYD Sea Lion 06 EV—102 units; the Zeekr 001—46 units; the Zeekr 7X—44 units; the MG4 EV—36 units; and the Toyota BZ4X—33 units.
Among used vehicles, the most frequently first-registered models were the Tesla Model Y—494 units, the Tesla Model 3—480 units, the Nissan Leaf—454 units, the Chevrolet Bolt—199 units, and the Hyundai Ioniq 5—160 units.
As previously reported, a sharp increase in demand for electric vehicles began last summer due to plans to introduce a value-added tax (VAT) on the customs clearance of electric vehicles starting January 1, 2026. Specifically, in December—the last month during which electric vehicles could be cleared through customs without
VAT—demand for them increased 8.6-fold compared to December 2024, reaching 32,800 units.
In total, 110,200 electric vehicles were added to Ukraine’s vehicle fleet in 2025—twice as many as in the previous year. New vehicles accounted for 20% of the total, compared to 24% in 2024.
Imports of goods into Ukraine from January through August 2026 increased by 26% in monetary terms compared to the same period in 2025—from $52.6 billion to $66.3 billion, according to data from the Telegram channel of the State Customs Service (SCS) of Ukraine.
Exports, however, despite a 4% increase in January–July, slowed in January–August and remained nearly at last year’s level—$26.6 billion compared to $26.6 billion last year.
Meanwhile, taxable imports totaled $46.8 billion, accounting for 71% of the total volume of imported goods.
“The tax burden per kilogram of taxable imports in January–August 2025 was $0.6/kg,” the agency added.
The largest volumes of goods were imported into Ukraine from China ($19.6 billion), Poland ($6.3 billion), and Germany ($4.4 billion).
The largest exports from Ukraine went to Poland ($3.2 billion), Turkey ($2.1 billion), and Germany ($1.7 billion).
Of the total volume of goods imported in January–August 2026, 73% consisted of machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles—$29.9 billion (customs clearance of these goods generated 168.1 billion UAH in budget revenue, accounting for 29% of customs revenue), chemical industry products—$9 billion (74.9 billion
UAH was paid to the budget, or 13% of customs revenue), and fuel and energy products—$9.5 billion (197 billion UAH was paid, accounting for 34% of customs revenue).
The top three most exported goods from Ukraine were: food products—$15.4 billion; metals and metal products—$2.7 billion; and machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles—$2.4 billion.
In the first 8 months of 2026, customs clearance of exports subject to export duties generated 1.1 billion UAH in revenue for the budget, compared to 174.2 million UAH during the same period last year.
As previously reported, since July of this year, operations at the ports of “Greater Odesa” and their terminals have become significantly more difficult due to intensified attacks on ships and port infrastructure.
The OKKO network remains the largest importer of automotive gasoline into Ukraine: in August 2026, the company imported 46,100 metric tons of fuel, and 302,000 metric tons since the beginning of the year, according to data from the A-95 Consulting Group. OKKO accounts for about 27% of all Ukrainian gasoline imports since the beginning of the year.
The next group of largest suppliers consists of WOG, UPG, and “Ukrnafta.”
In August, WOG imported 20,200 metric tons of gasoline, UPG—20,000 metric tons, and “Ukrnafta” imported 19,400 metric tons.
Next are “BRSM-Nafta” with 7,000 metric tons, Amic with 3,400 metric tons, and “Avantage” with 3,100 metric tons.
Gaztrim and KLO each imported 2,400 metric tons, and Bars 2000 imported 2,200 metric tons.
Other market participants accounted for 26,100 metric tons.
In total, Ukraine imported 152,000 metric tons of motor gasoline in August.
The largest countries of origin for the fuel were Lithuania—51,800 metric tons—and Poland—40,100 metric tons. The ORLEN Group supplied more than half of August’s imports.
