According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first four months of 2009 Russia exported 8.394 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - down 15.3 percent, 1.233 million metric tons of pig iron - down 26.1 percent, 228,500 metric tons of ferroalloys - down 12.8 percent, 4.355 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - down 22 percent, 2.622 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 3.6 percent, 5.01 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 35.8 percent, and 620,900 metric tons of coke and semi-coke - down 36.2 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2008.
During the period in question, Russia decreased its ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) by 48.6 percent and its steel pipe imports by 49.2 percent year on year, to 763,100 metric tons and 186,800 metric tons respectively.