According to estimations of the Russian Special Steel and Alloys Consumers and Suppliers Association (Spetsstal), in the first nine months of this year Russia's consumption of the main stainless steel products increased by 79.7 percent year on year, amounting to 228,900 mt, which lags behind the pre-crisis January-September 2008 volume by only four percent.
Of total Russian stainless steel product consumption in January-September this year, 61.3 percent was accounted for by flats, 19 percent was accounted for by longs, 8.5 percent consisted of electric-welded pipes, seven percent was made up of seamless pipes, 2.6 percent was accounted for by wire, while billets accounted for 1.6 percent.
During the period in question, the share of imported products in Russia's total consumption of stainless steel amounted to 61.8 percent, up from 55.7 percent in the same period of 2009. The stainless steel consuming segments most dependent on imports remained electric-welded pipes, with the share of imports amounting to 80.4 percent, flat rolled products, with the share of imports at 68.7 percent, and seamless pipes, with the share of imports totaling 62.2 percent. This year, the 50 percent import mark was also crossed by stainless steel wire, the share of imports of which amounted to 53.9 percent, compared to 30 percent in January-September 2009.