Russia increases steel production in the first four months

Russia increases steel production in the first four months

During the four month period from January through to April 2003, Russian rolled steel production reached a total of 16.44 million tons, recording a 5.7% year-on-year increase. According to the information released by the Russian State Statistics Committe, steel sheet production increased by 135% and equalled to 7.3 million tons. 2.5 million tons of this amount is cold rolled, and 4.8 million tons is hot rolled sheet. Furthermore, the production of sections and bars grew by 0.1%, reaching a total of 8.96 million tons during the first four months of the year 2003. Crude steel production in Russia in this period amounted to 20.33 million tons, up by 6.6% year-on-year. A total of 16.02 million tons of pig iron was produced in Russia, during the same period, with a year-on-year rise of 8%.