According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first quarter of 2008 Russia exported 7.489 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - up three percent, 1.36 million metric tons of pig iron - up 4.6 percent, 183,600 metric tons of ferroalloys - down 14.6 percent, 4.223 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - up 8.5 percent, 2.028 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 5.3 percent, 5.3 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 8.6 percent, and 669,600 metric tons of coke and semi-coke - up 6.6 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 17.7 percent and its steel pipe imports by 19 percent year on year, to 1.034 million metric tons and 273,700 metric tons respectively.