In the first seven months of 2008, Russia registered a five percent increase in its crude steel production year on year to 44.5 million metric tons.
During the period in question, Russia produced 31.6 million metric tons of pig iron - up 4.8 percent, 31 million metric tons of semi-finished products - up 3.4 percent, 21 million metric tons of long products - up 7.4 percent, and 15.4 million metric tons of flat rolled products - up 4.3 percent, all compared to January-July 2007. The above flat rolled production figure includes 4.9 million metric tons of cold rolled and 10.5 million metric tons of hot rolled, up 3.3 percent and 4.8 percent respectively year on year.