In the first five months of 2008, Russia registered a 4.7 percent increase in its crude steel production year on year to 32 million metric tons.
During the period in question, Russia produced 22.8 million metric tons of pig iron - up 4.7 percent, 21.8 million metric tons of semi-finished products - up 1.1 percent, 15.3 million metric tons of long products - up 7.4 percent, and 11 million metric tons of flat rolled products - up 4.3 percent, all compared to January-May 2007. The above flat rolled production figure includes 3.5 million metric tons of cold rolled and 7.5 million metric tons of hot rolled, up 5.3 percent and 3.8 percent respectively year on year.