In the first quarter of the current year, direct supplies of steel scrap by rail to Russian metallurgical companies and pipe plants totaled 2.14 million mt, down 2.8 percent year on year and constituting the lowest first quarter volume the last five years, according to figures issued by Russian Railways.
In particular, in terms of scrap supplies received by rail in the first quarter, MMK's volumes were down 23 percent, volumes to the Cherepovets metal works of Severstal declined by 38.5 percent, while volumes supplied to NLMK indicated a decrease of 12 percent, all year on year.