Russian steel producers, including Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, Novolipetsk Steel and Severstal, have resubmitted their application to Russia's Ministry of Industry and Energy to increase the duty on galvanized steel imports from the current five percent to 33 percent for a period of 200 days, stating that at the time the first application was submitted (subsequently dismissed by the Ministry) the data for December 2008-early January 2009 were not available.
According to the Russian producers, the growth of volumes of cheap imported galvanized steel products, mainly from Kazakhstan, China and Ukraine, against the strong decrease in domestic demand may cause them to incur substantial losses.
In January 2009, Russia produced 28,000 mt of galvanized steel - down 81.6 percent compared to 152,000 mt produced in September 2008. Meanwhile, the galvanized steel price in the Russian domestic market is at about Ruble 30,000/mt, while Ukrainian price offers are 20 percent lower due to the devaluation of their national currency.
According to local reports, the Russian steel producers are also seeking an increase in the import duty on polymer coated steel, which is currently at five percent. Thus, for China they are seeking a 36.1 percent import duty, for Taiwan a 80.9 percent duty, for Belgium 28.3 percent, for Finland 21.3 percent, and for Kazakhstan a 10.9 percent duty. In 2008, Russian steelmakers supplied around 55,000 mt of polymer coated steel to the domestic market, covering about 50 percent of market demand. The other 50 percent was imported.