Poland completely refocused on importing iron ore from Ukraine, refusing Russian supplies
Poland completely reoriented itself to import iron ore from Ukraine, finally abandoning supplies from Russia. This was reported by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE), informs wprost.
In 2024, 93.6% of all ore purchased by Polish metallurgists came from Ukraine. For comparison, back in 2015, this figure was only 70.1%, while Russia’s share exceeded 12%. Today, Russian supplies are completely eliminated from the Polish market.
On the scale of the EU, the situation with the provision of iron ore remains difficult. Own reserves are almost exhausted, and the only large producer in the community remains Sweden, which in 2024 exported 7.5 million tons of raw materials. The main suppliers for Europe remain Canada (25.4 million tons), Brazil (16.6 million tons), Ukraine (14 million tons) and South Africa (8.9 million tons).
Experts emphasize that iron ore is the basic resource for blast furnace technology, which is traditionally used in steel production. At the same time, electric arc furnaces (EAF), which work mainly on scrap metal, are gaining more and more importance. This technology requires much less ore and is considered more ecological.
PIE notes that industrial decarbonisation in Europe will inevitably accelerate the transition to electric arc furnaces, reducing demand for iron ore in the coming years. For Poland, this means that the current dominant role of Ukrainian supplies may gradually decline.
The largest steel producer in the country – ArcelorMittal – has already announced plans to invest in the “green” transition, although specific launch dates have not yet been named. If the project is implemented, it will become a real technological revolution for Polish metallurgy and fundamentally change the structure of import needs.
In January-July 2025, the European Union imported 3.37 million tons of metallurgical raw materials of Russian origin (+0.6% y/y). Expenditures on the import of relevant products reached €1.39 billion (-14.4% y/y). At the same time, the volume falls on cast iron, steel semi-finished products and iron of direct reduction. ZRS deliveries for 7 months amounted to 2.04 thousand tons (9.36 thousand tons in January-July 2024).
