Russia issues Jan-October 2008 import and export data

According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first ten months of 2008 Russia exported 23.342 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - up three percent, 4.59 million metric tons of pig iron - up 0.2 percent, 625,600 metric tons of ferroalloys - down 3.14 percent, 13.67 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - up 13 percent, 6.05 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 8.9 percent, 18.91 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 5.3 percent, and 2.764 million metric tons of coke and semi-coke - down 0.2 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2007.
 
During the period in question, Russia decreased its ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) by 18.25 percent and its steel pipe imports by 33.7 percent year on year, to 4.3 million metric tons and 862,000 metric tons respectively.