Ukraine Steel Exports Surge Amidst Production Shifts: A Positive Outlook for Flat Products
Ukraine’s steel sector shows resilience despite ongoing challenges. Flat steel exports are up, as highlighted in “Ukraine increased exports of flat products to 554 thousand tons in January-April,” while overall rolled metal exports face a slight dip, according to “Metallurgists of Ukraine exported 1.23 million tons of rolled metal in 4 months.” No direct connection between these export trends and observed changes in plant activity could be established from the provided data.
From December 2024 to May 2025, the mean steel plant activity in Ukraine increased significantly, peaking in March 2025 at 32.0 before settling at 27.0 for April and May. While the mean activity indicates a positive recovery trend, individual plant activity levels vary. Alchevsk Iron & Steel Plant consistently operated above the mean, peaking at 57.0 in March 2025. Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works and Metallurgical Plant Kametstal generally operated above and around the mean, respectively, before experiencing decreases in activity in April and May.
Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works, located in Donetsk and operating with BF/BOF technology and a capacity of 3,300 ttpa of Crude Steel, shows a declining activity trend, dropping from 49.0 in January 2025 to 31.0 in May 2025. This decrease does not have a direct connection to any specific news item provided. It primarily produces semi-finished and finished rolled products like rebar and wire rods.
Alchevsk Iron & Steel plant, situated in Luhansk with BF/BOF technology and a larger capacity of 5,472 ttpa of Crude Steel, maintained a relatively stable and high activity level, hovering around 52-57% throughout the observed period. There is no immediate link between its activity and the news on increased flat product exports. This plant focuses on semi-finished products, specifically slabs and square billets.
Metallurgical Plant Kametstal, based in Dnipropetrovsk with BF/BOF technology and a 4,200 ttpa Crude Steel capacity, exhibited a decline in activity from 35.0 in January 2025 to 30.0 in May 2025. This decrease cannot be directly linked to any specific news articles provided. This plant produces a variety of finished rolled products, including rails and pipes, serving the energy and transport sectors.
The “Ukraine increased exports of flat products to 554 thousand tons in January-April” reveals strong flat steel export performance, particularly to Poland and Bulgaria. Given the flat product export increases, and the general decrease in activity observed in Yenakiieve Iron & Steel Works and Metallurgical Plant Kametstal, steel buyers should prioritize securing flat steel supplies from producers outside of regions exhibiting declining production, in order to diversify and minimize potential disruptions. The increase in ferroalloy exports, as reported in “Ukraine’s ferroalloy industry exported 39 thousand tons of products in January-April,” could indicate increased steel production, but this trend is not explicitly reflected in the individual plant activity data provided.