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). 

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).

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);

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.