Steel production in Russia increased in January-February 2015

According to data released by the Federal State Statistics Service, crude steel production in Russia in the first two months of 2015 amounted to 11.7 million tonnes, an increase of 5.5 percent over the same period last year.

During this period, production of rolled steel in the country amounted to 10.2 million tons, an increase of 6.8 percent on an annualized basis. Pig iron production reached 8.6 million tonnes, an increase of 3.4 percent year on year. Steel pipe output reached 1.8 million tonnes, an increase of 18.3 percent year on year.

At the same time, the price of rolled metal for consumers in the domestic market has grown in recent months, which will inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of final products in mechanical engineering, automotive, cable industry, defense industry and other areas.

The enterprises of the machine-building sector report that the selling prices for long, cold and hot rolled metal for them have increased by 35-60 percent. At the same time, the production of, for example, agricultural machinery decreased by 16.3 percent for tractors and 5.9 percent for grain harvesters. Railway manufacturers also provided data on the increase in selling prices for sheet metal by 42 percent, for channels - by 45 percent, for roll-formed sections - by 26 percent, and for wheels and axles - by 30 percent compared to last year.