Semi-finished steel imports, which exceeded 3 million tons in 2023, increased in 2024, reaching 3.15 million tons. The vast majority of products in this category were slabs. In 2024, the main consumers of Russian semi-finished steel products in Europe were Belgium with 1.22 million tons, followed by Italy with 781.92 thousand tons, Denmark with 467.39 thousand tons and the Czech Republic with 425.65 thousand tons.
On the other hand, serious declines are striking in the raw material group. While iron ore imports were around 332 thousand tons in 2023, they almost came to a standstill in 2024, falling to just 9 thousand tons. Pig iron imports fell from 1.4 million tons to 1.02 million tons, while direct reduced iron (DRI) fell from 1.18 million tons to 1.04 million tons.
There is a surprising increase in scrap imports. Scrap imports, which were 31 thousand tons in 2023, exceeded 40 thousand tons in 2024. Imports of ferroalloys increased by 36.6% to 60.99 thousand tons.
Another notable development was in billet imports. According to EUROSTAT data, no shipments were made to Europe in 2024 in this product group, which was approximately 94 thousand tons in 2023. Hot rolled sheet (HRC) imports remained at very low levels for two years.
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