The bulk of imports consisted of cast iron, semi-finished steel products, and direct reduced iron

The European Union (EU) imported 3.37 million tons (+0.6% y/y) of Russian-origin steel raw materials in January-July 2025. The cost of importing these products reached €1.39 billion (-14.4% 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 seven months of 2025, 2.18 million tons of semi-finished products (+13.2% y/y) were shipped to the EU. The cost of these imports amounted to €982.38 million (-1.5% y/y). The largest consumers of semi-finished products from Russia are Belgium – 826.7 thousand tons (+9% y/y), Italy – 510.93 thousand tons (+22.7% y/y), the Czech Republic – 454.38 thousand tons (+63.1% y/y), and Denmark – 334.71 thousand tons (+12.9% y/y).

Large volumes of imports also fell on cast iron – 696.99 thousand tons (+3.3% y/y). The revenue of Russian iron and steel companies from supplying the relevant products to the EU market amounted to €254.45 million (-7.6% y/y). The main volumes were sent to Italy – 524.62 thousand tons (+4.6% y/y), Latvia – 87.27 thousand tons (+2.1% y/y), and Belgium – 31.07 thousand tons (+96.6% y/y).

There were almost no deliveries of Russian-made ferroalloys to the EU market in January-August 2025 – 3.8 tons compared to 48.52 thousand tons a year earlier.

Scrap imports from Russia amounted to 43.59 thousand tons (+2.2 times y-o-y), and procurement costs amounted to €14.54 million (+23.9% y-o-y). Iron ore supplies amounted to 2.04 thousand tons (9.36 thousand tons in January-July 2024). At the same time, imports of direct reduced iron (DRI) during this period amounted to 441.68 thousand tons (-33.7% y/y) for €138.29 million (-39.2% y/y).

Photo – EU imported 3.37 million tons of iron and steel products from Russia in January-July

In July 2025, the EU imported 414.89 thousand tons (-12.3% y/y; +8.4% m/m) of iron and steel products from Russia, including:

pig iron – 0 thousand tons (159.22 thousand tons in July 2024; 0 thousand tons in June);

semi-finished products – 340.36 thousand tons (+55.7% y/y; -4.3% m/m);

DRI – 67.5 thousand tons (-22.3% y/y; +222% m/m);

scrap – 7.03 thousand tons (+155% y/y; +16.7% m/m);

raw materials – 0 thousand tons (0 thousand tons in July 2024; 0 thousand tons in June).

Revenue of Russian steelmakers from exports to the EU in July amounted to €168.72 million, which is 25.2% less y/y and 3.3% more m/m.

As a reminder, the EU imported 5.34 million tons of iron and 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 exemptions that allow Russian steel companies to export to EU markets.