According to the data issued by the Russian Special Steel and Alloys Consumers and Suppliers Association (Spetsstal), in January-September this year Russia's stainless steel product exports continued to decrease, registering a 12.5 percent drop year on year to 4,038 mt. The year-on-year decrease in the same period of 2009 amounted to 50.2 percent.
"These data indicate that Russian stainless steel producers are losing their traditional markets in the former Soviet republics," Spetsstal noted.
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | Change 2010/2009 | |
5,804 | 4,037 | 2,282 | 1,784 | -21.8% | |
3,215 | 2,744 | 1,116 | 1,322 | +18.5% | |
179 | 127 | 63 | 83 | +31.7% | |
Seamless tubes | 1,373 | 1,554 | 920 | 621 | -32.5% |
Electric welded tubes | 124 | 14 | 156 | 33 | -78.8% |
Billets | 351 | 781 | 77 | 195 | +153.2% |
Total | 11,046 | 9,257 | 4,614 | 4,038 | -12.5% |
This year, the share of exports amounts to slightly more than 4.4 percent of the total volume of Russia's stainless steel product output, while previously this figure stood at 7-8 percent.
"It is clear that without a major upgrade or purchase of new and modern equipment, the manufacture of competitive products is almost impossible," Spetsstal said in its statement, adding that, since specialized modern stainless steel production is absent in the country, all the protective measures against imports of high quality products inhibit the development of many branches of engineering and manufacturing of advanced products with the use of stainless steel.