Cheap, duty-free supplies are endangering the domestic steel sector, according to Warsaw officials
Poland will seek protective measures from the EU on Ukrainian steel imports, a government official told Bloomberg on Tuesday, arguing that a glut of duty-free supply is threatening local producers.
The move follows a pattern of Warsaw making efforts to protect against Ukrainian agricultural imports last year.
Imports of Ukrainian steel to Poland jumped about half last year and rose another 27% in the first half of 2025, data from Polish steelmakers’ lobby group HIPH showed. It prompted local producers to demand a government suspension.
“We have a huge increase in imports of Ukrainian steel that is deeply pressuring our steel industry,” deputy development and technology minister, Michal Baranowski told the outlet. “So we are working with the European Commission to find a way to address it, preferably in the short term.”
The Polish steel industry has contended that Ukrainian products, which enter the market duty-free, are not subject to the same energy and environmental costs as their EU counterparts. According to data from HIPH, the surge in imports has largely been fueled by reinforcement bars, a sector where Polish mills have a competitive focus.
The European Commission has proposed a long-term mechanism to limit tariff-free steel imports from all partners, including Ukraine. The plan includes imposing a 50% duty on imports that exceed established quotas.
But the pressure from Ukrainian steel imports is already affecting wider Polish industry, with Warsaw-listed coking coal company JSW reporting last week it may need state support after five straight loss-making quarters.
“This import is threatening us here and now,” Krystian Gunia, chief financial officer at steel producer Cognor Holding told a parliamentary committee in Warsaw last week, according to Bloomberg. “We need protection now before broader EU measures take effect.”
Gunia added that the steelmaker could be forced to idle its new 800 million zloty ($217 million) rolling mill, blaming pressure from cheap Ukrainian imports.
Poland will seek an EU ban on Ukrainian steel imports once it completes a market analysis documenting the negative impact, the outlet said citing Deputy Development Minister Michal Jaros.
