According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first nine months of 2009 Russia exported 20.688 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - down 3.95 percent, 3.425 million metric tons of pig iron - down 19 percent, 559,300 metric tons of ferroalloys - down 3.14 percent, 10.401 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - down 17 percent, 14.538 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 14.8 percent, and 1.282 million metric tons of coke and semi-coke - down 50.6 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2008. On the other hand, in January-September, Russia registered a 19.8 percent increase year on year in its flat rolled product exports to 6.794 million metric tons.
In the period in question, Russia decreased its ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) by 43 percent to 2.23 million mt, and reduced its steel pipe imports by 45 percent to 425,800 mt, both compared to January-September 2008.