Russian steelmakers ask government to impose protective duty on galvanized steel imports

Russian steel producers, including Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, Novolipetsk Steel and Severstal, have asked the Ministry of Industry and Energy to introduce a 33 percent preliminary special protective duty on galvanized steel imports for a period of 200 days, starting from February 16. According to the Russian producers, the growth of volumes of cheap imported steel products, mainly from Ukraine and Kazakhstan, against the strong decrease in domestic demand may cause them to incur substantial losses. Commenting on the issue, president of the Russian Union of Metal and Steel Suppliers, Alexander Romanov, stated that during the last two years Russian steel producers have increased their galvanized steel output capacities to more than one million mt per year, almost equal to the previously imported volume of galvanized steel. However, while the consumption of galvanized steel by the domestic construction industry (which places 70 percent of total orders for this product) had before been growing at a rate of 15 percent a year, in 2009 the Russian steel producers are expecting a minimum decrease of 50 percent in orders from the domestic construction sector.