Russian pig iron exports have slightly increased since the beginning of the year

According to the updated data, the export of pig iron in the Russian Federation in the first four months of 2016 increased by 2% compared to a year earlier. The United States was the largest importer of Russian pig iron during this period.

Russian pig iron exports totaled 389,263 tons in April 2016. Total exports increased by 9.8% over the previous year. On the other hand, the export of pig iron in April this year decreased by 43% compared to the previous month. Russian pig iron exports totaled 676,454 tons in March this year.

Exports to the United States during the month amounted to 250,089 tons, and it accounts for almost 64% of total pig iron exports from Russia. At the same time, exports to the United States fell 36% compared with exports of 390,570 tons in the previous month. Turkey was the second largest importer. Turkey's imports in April almost tripled from the previous month, to a total of 38,881 tons. Italy came in third with 32,573 tons. Other key destinations for Russian pig iron exports were Belarus (26,378 tons), Poland (13,515 tons) and South Korea (6,465 tons).

The cumulative export of pig iron from Russia in the first four months of 2016 amounted to 1.581 million tons, which is 2% higher compared to the export of 1.550 million tons in the corresponding period of 2015. The main destination of Russian pig iron exports was the United States. Exports to the country reached 721,747 tons, accounting for 45.7% of the total pig iron exports during this period. Other key importers during January-April 2016: Italy (227,348 tons, 14.4%), Spain (145,055 tons, 9.2%), Turkey (91,370 tons, 5.8%) and Taiwan (81,811 tons, 5 , 2%).

According to official data, Russia's pig iron exports throughout 2016 are estimated to be around 4.740 million tonnes.