CIS crude steel output down 3% in November

CIS steelmakers produced an estimated 8.56 million tonnes of crude steel in November 2013, down 3% year-on-year, the World Steel Assn (Worldsteel) said late on Friday December 20.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

The number includes the actual production volumes for Russia and Ukraine, and the estimates for Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Moldova.

The steel mills in Russia – by far the largest producer in the region – made a total of 5.51 million tonnes of crude steel in November, down 1% year-on-year, according to Worldsteel.

Crude steel output in Ukraine, the second-largest steel producer, was at 2.51 million tonnes in the month, down 8% year-on-year.

Ukrainian producers reported the year’s lowest monthly steel production in November due to “extremely weak demand” in export markets, as well as the “poor buying activity” inside the country, according to Ukraine’s steelmakers union, Metallurgprom. 

Kazakhstan’s crude steel output rose by 45% year-on-year in November to 310,000 tonnes, while Belarus steel production dropped by 38% year-on-year in the month to an estimated 130,000 tonnes, Worldsteel said.

Uzbekistan’s crude steel output rose by 4% year-on-year in November to 55,000 tonnes and Moldova’s steel production shot up by 60% to 40,000 tonnes in the month.

The estimated total CIS crude steel output in the eleven months of 2013 was 99.32 million tonnes, down 3% year-on-year.

Production in Russia for the January-November period was 63.38 million tonnes, down 2% year-on-year, while Ukraine’s crude steel output was 30.07 million tonnes, down 1% compared with the same period of 2012.