Russia: consumption forecast

摘要

The Russian flat product market broadened by 2% y-o-y to 17.7 mt overJanuary-September exclusively owing to a 5% build-up in domestic shipments.Meanwhile, imports slipped 9% to 3 mt, with the most sizable reduction witnessedin the HR sheet and HDG segments (down 17% and 11% respectively) and thepettiest one, by 4% to 475,000 t, in the plate segment. A demand recoveryenabled Russian producers to bring the aggregate shipments up to 14.7 mt.High value-added products are in good demand among construction companies,and this propelled consumption of Russian-origin coated steel products by 8%to 3 mt. In particular, PPGI sheet and HDG sales rose by 13% and 6%respectively. Growth of large-diameter pipe production and foundation layingfavoured an increase in domestic plate supplies by 19% to 2.97 mt. Onlyconsumption of domestic HR sheets declined by 1%.