Ukrainian businesses have started exporting scrap metal through the EU.

Ukrainian companies found a new way to avoid paying a high duty of €180 per ton by re-exporting scrap metal through EU countries. In the first half of 2023, the export of strategic raw materials increased significantly and was shipped mainly to EU countries.

In the last two years, the export of scrap metal to the EU increased by 2000%. However, European metallurgists do not benefit from this. Also, Ukraine suffers losses totaling hundreds of millions of hryvnias because almost all routes for exporting Ukrainian scrap metal through European countries involve re-export to Turkey or India through Bulgaria and Poland.

After the war, the geographical structure of Ukrainian scrap metal export changed. Before the war, exporters of scrap metal shipped raw materials mainly to Turkey and Transnistria by sea, but now it is simply impossible due to the seaport blockade. The only export destination left is the EU countries, where 100% of Ukrainian scrap metal was shipped in the year’s first half.