According to the data issued by Russia's Ministry of Economic Development, in the first eight months of 2010 Russia registered a 15.4 percent increase in its crude steel production to 43.4 million metric tons and a 14.4 percent growth in its finished steel output to 37.7 million mt, both compared to the same period last year.
According to the ministry's preliminary data, in January-August 2010 Evraz Group's subsidiary West-Siberian Steel Works (ZapSib) increased its finished steel output by 19 percent to 3.642 million mt, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) raised its finished steel product output by 20.2 percent to 6.816 million mt, Severstal Cherepovets increased its finished output by 21.3 percent to 6.629 million mt, Novolipetsk Steel's (NLMK) finished output rose by 14.4 percent to 5.756 million mt, and Evraz's Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant's finished steel product output climbed up by 4.7 percent to 1.061 million mt, all compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, during the period in question, year-on-year decreases in their finished steel product outputs were registered by Mechel's Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant - down 1.5 percent to 2.030 million mt, by Evraz's Nizhny Tagil Iron and Steel Works (NTMK) - down 4.7 percent to 2.283 million mt, Metalloinvest's Oskol Elektrometallurgical Plant - down 5.2 percent to 1.852 million mt, and by Metalloinvest's Ural Steel - down 11.5 percent to 1.567 million mt, all compared to January-August 2009.
In January-August, Russia's rolled steel product exports amounted to 18 million mt - up 12.5 percent year on year, while its imports amounted to 2.86 million mt - up 60.7 percent compared to the same period last year.