Europe's exports to Ukraine above pre-war levels in December, Eurostat says

European Union exports to Ukraine rose to pre-war levels in December, recovering from the trade disruption caused by Russia's invasion, data from the bloc's statistics agency Eurostat showed on Wednesday.

The bloc's trade with Ukraine initially slumped between February and March 2022 in the war's early phase, when Ukraine's share of the EU's imports from Ukraine dropped 40% and exports to the country slumped 50%.s

However, Ukraine's contribution to the EU's exports beyond its territory grew to 1.5% in December, from 1.2% in February 2022.

Its share in the EU's non-domestic imports in December was at 1.0%, slightly below the 1.1% level recorded last February.

Trade of iron and steel products with European countries declined last year, with Ukraine's share of non-EU imports of the goods down by 6.3%.

Ukraine lost in April access to its biggest steelmaker Metinvest in the port city of Mariupol, which accounted for 30% to 40% of its metallurgy production capacity before the war.

The main goods traded between Ukraine and the EU include sunflower oil, maize and, grape or colza seeds, the Eurostat report showed.

Ukraine's share in Europe's imports of sunflower oil dropped to 79.8% in 2022, from as much as 87.5% a year earlier. For maize, it fell to 47.5% last year, from 50.7% in 2021.

Ukraine's agricultural sector accounted for about 12% of GDP and about 40% of its overall exports before the war, but was hit by a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by the Russian invasion.

In line with the recovering trend recorded in December, data collected by Ukraine's agriculture ministry showed on Wednesday that the level of overall grain sold returned to pre-war levels in February, reaching 5.2 million tonnes compared to 5.05 million tonnes a year ago.