Steel race: Ukraine’s steel production increased, as did its competitors
24 April 2025 08:49
Global steel production in January-March 2025 amounted to 468.61 million tons, down 0.36% compared to January-March last year. This was reported by Ukrmetallurgprom, citing data from the World Steel Association Worldsteel, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Steel production in Ukraine in the first three months of this year reached 1.73 million tons, or 102.74% compared to January-March 2024, and this result allowed the country to take 23rd place in the ranking, which includes 71 steel-producing countries. Before that, Ukraine was ranked 21st.
The leader is the People’s Republic of China, which produced 259.33 million tons, up 0.60% compared to January-March 2024. China’s share in global steel production is 55.3%.
According to Worldsteel, in January-March 2025, metallurgical enterprises around the world produced 346.34 million tons of pig iron. This is 0.04% higher than in January-March 2024.
In this ranking, Ukraine’s position is slightly better – 14th among 40 countries producing pig iron with a result of 1.70 million tons or 107.16% compared to January-March 2024.
The leader is still the People’s Republic of China, whose metallurgists smelted 216.28 million tons of pig iron in January-March 2025. The share of Chinese pig iron in global production is 62.5%.
March was a record month for Ukrainian pig iron exporters
In March 2025, Ukrainian metallurgical enterprises exported 300.9 thousand tons of commercial pig iron, which is a record monthly volume of shipments since December 2021. For comparison, in February of this year, exports amounted to 24.35 thousand tons (a minimum since December 2022), and in March last year – 92.43 thousand tons. This is based on GMK Center’s calculations based on the State Customs Service data.
The United States was the driver behind the significant growth in pig iron exports in March. During the month, 245.14 thousand tons of products were shipped to the US, while in February, no products were exported to the US market. European consumers also increased their imports of pig iron from Ukraine, in particular, Italy – by 2.3 times m/m to 45.56 thousand tons, and Poland – by 8.3% m/m to 3.45 thousand tons.
According to Andriy Glushchenko, GMK Center analyst, the growth in pig iron imports from Ukraine to the US was driven by uncertainty over Trump’s further imposition of import tariffs and the increased orders were intended to replenish stocks.
In January-March 2025, export volumes increased by 25.3% compared to the same period in 2024, and by 6.3% compared to the previous quarter to 453.88 thousand tons. The US accounted for 360.5 thsd tonnes of supplies, Italy – 65.55 thsd tonnes, Poland – 11.12 thsd tonnes, and the Netherlands – 4.97 thsd tonnes.
As a reminder, on February 10, US President Donald Trump signed a decree imposing 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, regardless of the country of origin.
At the time, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that the US decision to impose duties on steel from other countries, including Ukraine, would have a negative impact on the steel industry. Last year, exports of steel products accounted for 57.9% of Ukraine’s exports to the US.
