Ukraine’s positive foreign trade balance in ferrous metals and products made from them in January–July 2026 decreased by approximately 40% compared with the same period of the previous year – to around $465 million.

Over the seven months, Ukraine exported ferrous metals worth $1.678 billion and metal products worth a further $507.5 million. Combined export revenue from these two groups totalled about $2.185 billion.

Imports of ferrous metals reached $1.023 billion and of products made from them $697.6 million. Total imports therefore amounted to approximately $1.720 billion.

The difference between exports and imports narrowed to roughly $465 million.

For comparison, in January–July 2025 combined exports of these two commodity groups stood at about $2.385 billion, imports at approximately $1.612 billion, and the trade surplus at around $773 million.

Thus, the positive balance decreased by about $308 million year-on-year, or by almost 40%.

The main reason for the reduction is the opposite dynamics of export and import flows. Combined exports of ferrous metals and metal products over the seven months fell by roughly 8.4%, while their imports rose by approximately 6.7%.

The imbalance is particularly pronounced in the metal-products segment: exports here totalled $507.5 million against imports of $697.6 million, producing a negative balance of about $190 million.

Ferrous metals still offset this deficit: their exports exceed imports by approximately $655 million. At the same time, however, foreign-exchange earnings from their exports declined by 7.6%, while imports increased by 7.2%.

This dynamics points to a noticeable reduction in the positive contribution of metallurgical products to Ukraine’s foreign-trade balance in 2026.

Reference source: http://surl.li/gopmnbreterterted