Market participants
Central Europe is monitoring changes in steel supplies to Ukraine caused by trade measures in Europe and recent Russian strikes at the country's largest steelmaking plants.
Ukrainian steel producer Metinvest Zaporizhstal reported that seven employees were killed and 21 injured in a night strike in Russia on August 10-11. As a result of the attack, the energy infrastructure and facilities used in coke and blast furnace production were damaged, which led to the shutdown of work at the facility. 13-14 days later, Arcelormittal Kryvyi Rih was forced to partially shut down production after a missile strike damaged key energy facilities and a blast furnace at the United Steel Plant. As a result of the attack on the night of August 15, two people were killed and 13 were injured.
Estimates were conducted this month to determine when steel production at these two plants could be fully resumed. The attacks were another blow to the Ukrainian steel industry, which saw annual crude steel production drop by about 65%, from 21.4 million tons to 7.4 million tons, between 2021 and 2025, before the war.
A significant part of the country's steelmaking capacity was lost when Russia took control of Mariupol and production at the Metinvest Azovstal and IM plants stopped in the first months of the war. Ilyich.
,, Changes in trade flows in Ukraine, ,
,The blockade of the country's Black Sea ports has halted Ukraine's ability to import raw materials and export steel. Consequently, steel exports to the EU were redirected to more expensive railway routes through neighboring Poland.
During 2026, some European Parliament respondents in Central Europe expressed concern about the influx of materials of Ukrainian origin into the region. Despite the reduction in production in Ukraine, regional producers and distributors were concerned about the volume of supplies from abroad amid low domestic demand.
Consequently, some participants in the supply chain welcomed the inclusion by the European Commission of imports of steel of Ukrainian origin in its strict tariff quotas for steel, which were introduced on July 1. This ended the period of exemptions under previous protective measures for steel imports from the EU. Meanwhile, the UK has maintained its exemption of Ukrainian products from new customs duties and 50% tariffs exceeding quotas.
The total volume of customs duties of Ukraine in the EU is about 1.05 million tons. Last year, the country was duty-free.
