Ukraine almost doubles iron ore exports as it regained access to Black Sea ports

Ukraine managed to almost double its iron ore exports in 2024 after the country's operational iron ore miners were able to resume shipping from Black Sea ports in the first months of 2024.

Last year, Ukraine shipped out 33.7 million mt of iron ore products, including concentrate and pellets, an increase of 90% from 2023's 17.75 million mt, according to the country's statistical data.

Ukraine's export geography became more diverse last year: the country was able to export to China, and this boosted the overall total. The main providers of the tonnage were iron ore mining subsidiaries of ArcelorMittal and Metinvest, Stanislav Zinchenko, CEO of Kyiv-based iron and steel consultancy GMK Center, told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

GMK Center estimates port exports of iron ore grew by 3.7 times last year to 18.3 million mt.

Prior to the Ukrainian sea corridor becoming operational in the fall of 2023, the lack of access to maritime routes had sharply reduced opportunities for Ukraine to export any significant volumes to the Middle East and Asia, as Russia had blocked the ports and commodities had been shipped by rail and barges and mainly to customers in Europe.

Being able again to export via the Black Sea allows the use of larger vessels, providing benefits from economies of scale despite higher shipping and insurance costs, pellet producer Ferrexpo said in April 2024.

Despite the jump, the country's iron ore exports have not yet fully recovered to where they used to be in pre-war years when Ukraine was the world's fifth largest exporter of iron ore: the 2024 volume was almost a quarter short of the 44.4 million mt Ukraine exported in 2021, the last year before Russia's invasion.