In the first quarter of 2009, Russia registered a 33.3 percent decrease in its crude steel production year on year to 12.8 million metric tons.
During the period in question, Russia produced 9.7 million metric tons of pig iron - down 29.7 percent, 10.4 million metric tons of semi-finished products - down 17.5 percent, 6.5 million metric tons of long products - down 30 percent, and 4.6 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 29 percent, all compared to January-March 2008. The above flat rolled production figure includes 1.2 million metric tons of cold rolled - down 43 percent, and 3.4 million metric tons of hot rolled - down 22.7 percent, both compared with the same period last year.