In the first month of 2009, Russia registered a 39.8 percent decrease in its crude steel production year on year to 3.9 million metric tons.
During the period in question, Russia produced 3.1 million metric tons of pig iron - down 34 percent, 3.1 million metric tons of semi-finished products - down 33 percent, 2.3 million metric tons of long products - down 27.4 percent, and 1.2 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 43 percent, all compared to January 2008. The above flat rolled production figure includes 300,000 metric tons of cold rolled - down 53 percent, and 900,000 metric tons of hot rolled - down 38.5 percent, both compared with the same period last year.