In January–October 2025, the European Union (EU) imported 4.19 million tons (-10.7% y/y) of steel raw materials of Russian origin. The cost of importing these products reached €1.72 billion (-23.4% y/y). This is evidenced by GMK Center calculations based on Eurostat data.
The bulk of imports consists of semi-finished products. In the first 10 months of 2025, 2.9 million tons of semi-finished products (+8.4% y/y) were shipped to the EU. The cost of these imports amounted to €1.28 billion (-6.5% y/y). The largest consumers of semi-finished products from Russia are Belgium – 1.09 million tons (+6% y/y), Italy – 640,340 tons (+0.6% y/y), the Czech Republic – 616.02 thousand tons (+57.1% y/y), and Denmark – 443.3 thousand tons (+4.8% y/y).
Large volumes of imports also fall on pig iron – 696.99 thousand tons (-32.2% y/y). The revenue of Russian steel companies from supplying the relevant products to the EU market amounted to €254.45 million (-39.5% y/y). The main volumes were sent to Italy – 524.62 thousand tons (-31.8% y/y), Latvia – 87.27 thousand tons (-40.9% y/y), and Belgium – 31.07 thousand tons (+1.5% y/y).
There were almost no deliveries of Russian-made ferroalloys to the EU market in January–October 2025 – 6.3 tons compared to 56 thousand tons a year earlier.
Imports of scrap from Russia amounted to 69.18 thousand tons (+85.9% y/y), and procurement costs amounted to €21.25 million (+1.1% y/y). Iron ore supplies amounted to 2.04 thousand tons (9.36 thousand tons in January-October 2024). At the same time, imports of direct reduced iron (DRI) during this period amounted to 525,960 tons (-40.9% y-o-y) for €160.63 million (-46.6% y-o-y).
In October 2025, the EU imported 569.15 thousand tons (+54.8% y/y; +49.2 times m/m) of steel products from Russia, the highest since January this year, including:
- pig iron – 0 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in October 2024; 0 thousand tons in September);
- semi-finished products – 507.67 thousand tons (+94.1% y/y; +11 times m/m) – the highest level in at least the last 3 years;
- DRI – 51.27 thousand tons (-48.7% y/y; 0 thousand tons in September);
- scrap – 10.2 thousand tons (+2.1 times y/y; +56.4% m/m);
- iron ore – 0 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in October 2024; 0 thousand tons in September).
Revenues of Russian steelmakers from exports to the EU in October amounted to €221.35 million, which is 32.4% more y/y and 59 times m/m.
As a reminder, the EU imported 5.34 million tons of steel products from Russia in 2024.
Despite sanctions, Russian producers continue to receive significant revenues from exports to the EU, with last year’s total exceeding €2.5 billion. This indicates the weak effectiveness of the current restrictions and the existence of exceptions that allow Russian steel companies to export to EU markets.
Courtesy : GMKCENTER
