MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The European Union's decision to reduce duty-free steel import quotas will cost Ukraine's steel industry $1.2 bln a year, Ekonomicheskaya Pravda news outlet reported.

According to the publication, beginning July 1, the EU has allowed Ukrainian companies to export only 1.05 mln metric tons of steel products to the bloc duty-free, 60% less than in 2025. Similar limits have also been imposed on the United Kingdom, Turkey, and South Korea. However, Ukraine will suffer the greatest impact, the outlet noted. Before 2022, Ukraine exported about 4.5-5 mln metric tons of steel to the EU annually, while exports had reached 6.5 ln metric tons before the free trade agreement with the bloc took effect.

Initially, Brussels planned to allocate Ukraine an annual duty-free quota of 713,000 metric tons, but later increased it following pressure from the Baltic states, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. At the same time, Poland was the main advocate of the stricter restrictions that are expected to hit Ukraine's steel industry hard.

The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting estimates the industry's annual losses at $1.2 bln.