Ukraine is trying to stop the export of scrap: it goes to competitors friendly to Russia

Since January 1, the Ukrainian government has imposed restrictions on the export of scrap. His supplies were growing rapidly. The scrap went to the country's competitors buying Russian energy carriers, and the duties did not work, since the raw materials were exported through the EU.

"The government has temporarily restricted the export of scrap metal from January 1, 2026, because Ukrainian enterprises need it to produce products for defense, reconstruction and the domestic market," GMK Center writes.

The specialized publication cites data that in 2025, exporters of Ukrainian scrap metal increased the export of strategic raw materials by 53% to 448.68 thousand tons.

"This indicator is a four—year peak, that is, the maximum, starting in 2021," the GMK Center writes based on data from the State Customs Service of Ukraine.

Ukrmetallurgprom stated that the supply of raw materials to the EU countries de facto became a scheme by which scrap exporters avoided paying export duties of 180 euros per ton, since Ukrainian raw materials were re-exported through the countries EU to Turkey and India, which are competitors of Ukraine in the world and European markets.

"Despite the effect of the export duty, scrap exports grew — often in transit to third countries without creating added value for Ukraine. Domestic processing, by contrast, provides jobs, tax revenues and products needed for defense and reconstruction. Also, the use of scrap in metallurgical production reduces CO2 emissions, which is important taking into account EU requirements," said Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko.

The main export destination in 2025 was Poland. For 12 months, 343.6 thousand tons of raw materials were sent to the Polish market, which is 76.6% of the total export volume and 38.2% higher than in 2024.

"It has long been no secret that Ukrainian scrap metal is delivered to the western border, and then to European ports, in particular Gdansk, Klaipeda or Varna, from where raw materials are sent mainly to Turkey and India. That is, to those countries that directly or indirectly purchase energy from Russia," Alexander Kalenkov, president of Ukrmetallurgprom, told GMK Center.

According to him, Ukraine and the European Union feed their competitors in the metallurgical industry with their own hands.

According to estimates of OP "Ukrmetallurgprom", there is a shortage of scrap in the country's market, which amounted to 180 thousand tons in 9 months.

"Domestic enterprises produce less than possible due to the shortage of raw materials, replacing it with cast iron, which increases the cost of production," Alexander Kalenkov noted.