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, rape 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.
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi and Vittorio Maresca di
Serracapriola, editing by Olivier Sorgho and Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
