Ukrainian steel chief says EU tariffs aimed at China are hitting Ukraine
The head of Ukraine's major steelmaker Metinvest urges the EU to lift import restrictions on Ukrainian products. The European Commission says it considered Ukraine's difficult situation.
Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, one of Ukraine's largest steel companies, has told the BBC that the European Union should drop import restrictions on Ukrainian steel. He argues Ukraine has been "bundled together" with other exporters in measures designed to curb cheap imports from countries such as China. The issue matters because Ukraine's steel industry, battered by Russia's war, depends heavily on the EU market.
What the EU restrictions involve
The EU recently introduced steel import limits to protect producers in its member states. The amount of steel allowed in tax-free is capped at 18.3 million tonnes a year, a 47% cut from 2024 levels. The policy includes some country-specific quotas, but its main aim is to reduce imports, as European producers struggle to compete with cheap steel from China, Turkey and elsewhere. Although a free-trade agreement exists between the EU and Ukraine, it does not prevent Brussels from adopting separate trade protection measures.
Ryzhenkov called the tariffs unfair and said they were adopted without regard for Ukraine's situation. He said he would like to see at least a carve-out for Ukraine. The Ukrainian steel industry estimates that exports to the EU could ultimately fall by about 50–60%.
A European Commission spokesperson said the EU took Ukraine's difficult situation into account. Ukraine's quota guarantees exports, though at a lower level than in previous years, and compensation has been offered to the largest suppliers, including Ukraine.
An industry under attack
Before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, metallurgy and mining made up roughly 10% of Ukraine's national income and a third of its exports, with the EU as the top customer. All Ukrainian steel mills have been bombed at some point since the war began, and Ryzhenkov said strikes had intensified significantly recently. In September, for the first time in about 150 years, there was at one point no steel produced in Ukraine. Almost 800 Metinvest workers have been killed since the war began.
Ryzhenkov expects the coming winter to be one of the hardest in the company's history, saying Ukraine lacks the logistics to reach any market other than the EU.
