EU steel tariffs threaten Ukraine exports, Metinvest chief says
Metinvest chief executive Yuriy Ryzhenkov is urging the European Union to exempt Ukrainian steel from import restrictions, saying the measures aimed at curbing…
For Ukraine’s steel industry, access to the European market has become a survival issue as Russian strikes continue to hit mills. Metinvest chief executive Yuriy Ryzhenkov says EU tariffs aimed at curbing cheap imports, including from China, are also restricting Ukrainian steel.
Ryzhenkov called on the European Union to ease the restrictions for Ukraine, arguing the country had been grouped with other importers despite its circumstances. The EU says it considered Ukraine’s difficult situation and that a specific quota still guarantees exports, though at a lower level than in past years.
The bloc has capped duty-free steel imports at 18.3 million tonnes per year, a 47% reduction from 2024 levels. The policy includes country-specific quotas and aims to protect steelmakers in member states from lower-priced imports, including steel from China and Turkey.
“Ukraine has been bundled together into those measures without any consideration for the situation Ukraine is in,” Ryzhenkov told the BBC, referring to the war with Russia. He said he wanted “at least a carve out” so Ukraine could retain access to the EU market.
Ukraine warns of steep export decline
The Ukrainian steel industry estimates exports to the EU could ultimately fall by about 50–60%. The European Commission says Ukraine’s quota guarantees that steel can continue to enter the bloc, but acknowledges the allowance is “at a level lower than in the past years”.
A European Commission spokesperson said the EU “took into account the difficult situation” facing Ukraine when it decided its steel policy. The spokesperson also said Ukraine remained an important steel exporter and that the bloc had “offered compensations” to its largest suppliers, including Ukraine.
An EU-Ukraine free-trade agreement does not prevent the bloc from introducing separate trade-protection measures. That distinction leaves Ukrainian producers subject to import restrictions even with the agreement in place.
The stakes extend beyond trade access. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, metallurgy and mining accounted for roughly 10% of Ukraine’s national income and a third of its exports, according to the source report. The EU is Ukraine’s top customer, while the industry has continued to suffer from Russian bombardment.
All of Ukraine’s steel mills have been bombed at points since the conflict began in 2022. Ryzhenkov said the strikes had “intensified significantly recently”. At one point in September, he said, the country produced “no single tonne of steel” for the first time in about 150 years.
Almost 800 Metinvest workers have been killed since the war began. Ryzhenkov said the company had improved covered areas at its mills where employees can shelter during air raids, while acknowledging that protection has limits.
“Unfortunately, you cannot cover a whole steel mill to avoid it being damaged,” he told the BBC. He said the company’s response was to set safety procedures and try to reduce risks during attacks.
Ryzhenkov also warned that the coming winter would be “one of the hardest in our history”. He said the company lacked logistics to reach markets beyond the EU and that reducing its available market by 60% would make survival harder for the industry.
“Access to the European market is crucial for survival,” Ryzhenkov said.
Source: au.finance.yahoo.com
