According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first four months of 2008 Russia exported 9.914 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - up 25 percent, 1.669 million metric tons of pig iron - down two percent, 262,100 metric tons of ferroalloys - down three percent, 5.59 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - up five percent, 2.72 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 2.5 percent, 7.81 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 1.3 percent, and 974,000 metric tons of coke and semi-coke - up four percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2007.
During the period in question, Russia decreased its ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) by 15 percent and its steel pipe imports by 23 percent year on year, to 1.485 million metric tons and 367,700 metric tons respectively.