According to statistics from the Ukrainian State Customs Administration, from January to June 2025, China's supply of rolled steel to the Ukrainian market increased significantly, with a year-on-year increase of 69.7%, reaching 869100 tons. Driven by this, the share of Chinese steel in the Ukrainian import market has risen to 12.7%, higher than the 9.3% in the same period last year.
Significant growth in exports of both sheet and long materials
Data shows that in the first half of 2025, China's original sheet metal exports to Ukraine amounted to 662300 tons, a year-on-year increase of 43.6%; The export volume of long timber increased significantly to 20680 tons, with a year-on-year growth of up to 307.5%. Among them, the proportion of sheet metal exports from China to Ukraine is 12% (compared to 9.7% in the same period last year), while the proportion of long materials reaches 16.2% (compared to 6.5% in the same period last year).
In terms of specific products, the import volume of hot-rolled plates reached 262300 tons, a year-on-year increase of 225.4%; The import volume of coated sheet metal was 14670 tons, a slight decrease of 3.4% year-on-year; Cold rolled sheet metal reached 117800 tons, a year-on-year increase of 72.9%. In addition, the import volume of hot-rolled bars (bundled) reached 11450 tons, compared to only 0.02 million tons in the same period last year.
Monthly performance: June saw a decline in sheet metal prices, while long materials experienced strong growth
According to monthly data, China's metal product delivery to Ukraine in June 2025 was 113600 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 5.4%. Among them, the delivery volume of sheet metal decreased by 39.6% to 6820 tons; The delivery volume of long timber increased significantly from 7000 tons in June 2024 to 45400 tons.
Concerns of the Ukrainian industry
Alexander Kalenkov, chairman of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce for Exporting Metallurgical Products (Ukrmetprom), pointed out that a large number of imports, especially products from China and Türkiye, are forming strong competitive pressure on Ukrainian local steel enterprises. He emphasized that the market growth of long rolled steel products such as rebar and wire rods is worth paying attention to, as these products are categories with production capacity in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian industry believes that some imported products enjoy the advantage of low-cost energy and steel billet prices in the production process, taking the initiative in price competition, which puts local factories in Ukraine at a disadvantage. If effective measures are not taken, local enterprises may gradually lose the domestic market, which should have served as an important "safety buffer" in the war and post-war economic recovery.
Overall import situation
It is worth noting that in the first half of 2025, the overall import volume of sheet metal in Ukraine increased by 16.8% year-on-year, reaching 554050 tons; The import volume of long timber increased by 62.6% to 127750 tons. From this, it can be seen that the Ukrainian steel market is showing a trend of increasing dependence on imports while demand is recovering.
Conclusion
Overall, China's steel exports to Ukraine achieved rapid growth in the first half of 2025, particularly in the long steel sector. This not only reflects the competitiveness of Chinese steel products in the international market, but also raises concerns about market share and industry development in the Ukrainian domestic steel industry. In the future, how to balance import demand while ensuring domestic industries in Ukraine will be an important challenge for the country's steel industry.
Post time: Aug-27-2025