Ukraine increased imports of coated rolled products by 81.3% in January-March

In January-March 2023, Ukraine increased imports of polymer coated steel by 81.3% compared to the same period in 2022 – up to 45.75 thousand tons. This is stated in the study of galvanized and painted steel market for the first quarter of 2023, reports Metipol.

In March 2023, Ukrainian consumers imported 19.94 thousand tons of painted steel, which is 33.5% more than in the previous month and 14 times more than in March 2022. In general, this figure is a record for the last 15 months.

The increase in imports of painted steel is due to low contract prices and an obvious increase in prices. In addition, players have returned to the market, which suspended their activities last year, but have now stepped up in response to reduced business risks. At the same time, the volumes of imports do not correspond to the current volumes of product consumption.

The main suppliers of coated steel to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2023 are the European Union – 22.1 thousand tons, and China – 22.1. Turkiye shipped 1 thousand tons of products to Ukrainian consumers, and South Korea – 0.6 thousand tons.

Chinese products are the most attractive for imports, since China has extremely low logistics rates – no more than $100/t compared to $400/t last year. At the same time, deliveries of European rolled products are also at a high level due to shorter delivery times and higher quality.

Prices for polymer coated steel in January-March 2023 ranged from $957/t to $1479/t. At the same time, Chinese products were the cheapest due to the low zinc content (30-80), while European products were the most expensive (zinc content 225-275).

As GMK Center reported earlier, in January-March 2023, Ukraine increased imports of galvanized steel twice compared to the same period in 2022 – up to 48.1 thousand tons. The largest supplier of galvanized steel to Ukraine in the first quarter was Turkiye – 16.9 thousand tons of products. The countries of the European Union account for 6.4 thousand tons of galvanizing imported to Ukraine.

Also, volumes of galvanized steel consumption in Ukraine in 2022 decreased by 44% y/y – to 172 thousand tons (in 2021 – 308 thousand tons). At the same time, domestic production of rolled steel with galvanized coating decreased by 74% y/y last year – to 127 thousand tons (in 2021 – 493 thousand tons).

Exports of rolled products with galvanized coating from Ukraine fell by 85% y/y last year – to 42 thousand tons (in 2021 – 277 thousand tons). Imports of galvanizing in 2022 increased by 27% y/y – up to 84 thousand tons