Ukrainian steel companies recorded a significant drop in exports of semi-finished steel products during the January–November 2025 period. Export volumes fell by 30.5% compared with the same period of 2024, reaching approximately 1.22 million tons, according to data from the State Customs Service and analysis by the GMK Center.
Bulgaria ranked as the leading destination for these exports, with total shipments of 426.64 thousand tons, despite a year-on-year decline of 21.5%. Turkey followed with around 205.66 thousand tons, showing virtually no change year-on-year, while Poland imported 249.42 thousand tons. By contrast, exports to Egypt dropped sharply to just 99.26 thousand tons, representing a 71.3% decrease compared with the previous year.
On a monthly basis, exports in November reached about 145.81 thousand tons, up 5.8% compared with October and marking a strong year-on-year increase of 62.4% compared with November 2024.
In terms of revenues, export earnings from semi-finished steel products declined by 33.2% year-on-year in the first eleven months of the year to $581.09 million. However, November saw a notable improvement, with revenues rising by 8.6% month-on-month and by 60.7% year-on-year to $68.13 million.
In 2024, Ukraine achieved strong growth in semi-finished steel exports, which rose to 1.89 million tons from 1.2 million tons in 2023, an increase of 56.7%.
This growth was attributed to the resumption of maritime shipments to distant markets, particularly Egypt, which imported 356.17 thousand tons, posting an exceptional year-on-year surge of 1,233%. Bulgaria’s imports reached 595.02 thousand tons, up 30%, while shipments to Turkey totaled 215.76 thousand tons.
