According to the preliminary data released by Rudprom- the Association of Russian
Iron Ore Producers, during the January-September 2006 period
Russia increased its
iron ore exports to
Ukraine by 17.8 percent year on year to 17 million metric tons. During the period in question, Russian
iron ore enterprises exported 5.85 million metric tons of
iron ore concentrate - up 24.8 percent, 9.86 million metric tons of pellets - up 16.7 percent, 498,000 metric tons of sintering ore - down 5.3 percent, and 792,000 metric tons of briquettes - up 3.9 percent, compared to the same period of last year.