According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first eight months of this year Russia exported about 19.754 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - up 7.9 percent, 10.81 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - up 17.3 percent, 5.947 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 0.6 percent, 2.687 million metric tons of pig iron - up 6.8 percent, and 601,000 metric tons of ferroalloys - up 29 percent, all compared to January-August 2009.
Meanwhile, during the period in question, Russia registered a 5.4 percent increase year on year in its iron ore concentrate exports to 12.976 million metric tons and a 58.4 percent growth year on year in its coke and semi-coke exports to 1.791 million metric tons.
On the other hand, in the first eight months of this year, Russia's ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) increased by 63.5 percent to 3.112 million metric tons, while its steel pipe imports rose by 93 percent to 724,700 metric tons, both compared to the same period last year.
* Data are presented without taking into account the mutual trade with the Republic of Kazakhstan in July and August 2010, due to the cancellation of customs clearance of goods at the Russian-Kazakh border as of July 1, 2010.