In the first quarter of 2024, total EU DRI imports increased by 12.7% compared to the same period in 2023, reaching 716.41 thousand tonnes. The largest importers were Italy, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Italy imported 186.25 thousand tonnes of DRI, down 17.9% year-on-year. Germany, on the other hand, showed a significant increase in DRI imports. In the first quarter of 2024, imported products reached 217.61 thousand tonnes, an increase of 46% compared to the same period of 2023. Belgium imported 50.68 thousand tonnes of DRI, down 32.9% compared to the first quarter of last year. The Netherlands showed a significant growth in direct reduced iron imports. Imports reached 122.1 thousand tonnes in the first quarter of 2024, a significant increase compared to the same period of 2023, when imports were only 19.7 thousand tonnes.
Russia remained the largest DRI supplier to the EU, with shipments of 254.54 thousand tonnes in January-March, down 28.8% year-on-year.
Other major DRI suppliers to the EU were Libya, which increased its exports by 7.7% to 108.24 thousand tonnes, and Venezuela, which started shipments for the first time in the first quarter of 2024, with 64.38 thousand tonnes.
Russia became the EU's second largest iron and steel supplier in March, increasing its exports by 1.7 times to EUR 328 million.
The main buyer was Belgium, which increased its purchases by 3.5 times to €130.5 million in March, the country's largest purchase since June 2022.
Italy increased its purchases by a quarter to EUR 85 million and Denmark by 30 % to EUR 35.1 million. The Czech Republic (EUR 23 million) and the Netherlands (EUR 20 million) are also among the top five buyers.
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