Belarus raises steel output in January-May 2006

According to the data released by Belarus' Statistics and Analysis Ministry, the country's output of ferrous metal rose 11.4 percent year on year to BYS 1.2 trillion ($559 million) in reference price basis during January-May of 2006. In particular, during the given period, Belarus output of crude steel rose 7 percent to 972,000 tons, that of steel rolled products rose 12.6 percent to 999,300 tons, and that of steel pipes rose 31.6 percent to 51,300 tons.