Russia sees modest rise in crude steel output

Russia sees modest rise in crude steel output

Russia's crude steel production showed only a modest rise during the first seven months of 2005 due to rising raw material prices and insufficient iron ore supplies. Russia's Federal State Statistics Service reported that the country's crude steel production rose 0.5 year on year to 38 million tons in the January-July 2005 period. Steelmakers recording gains in production included Novokuznetsk Metallurgical (NKMK) (15.7 percent), Urals Steel (6.2 percent), Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Combine (NTMK) (5.8 percent), Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine (OEMK) (3.1 percent), West Siberian Metallurgical Combine (ZSMK) (2.5 percent) and Severstal (1.2 percent). On the other hand, crude steel production fell 11.7 percent at Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine (NLMK), 2.4 percent at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and 0.8 percent at Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Combine (ChMK).