METAL FINANCE: Russian steel consumption to rise 5-7% per year, analyst says

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Terlovoy was speaking at the ‘Financial instruments for the development of the Russia’s metal industry – 2013’ conference in Moscow on Thursday January 24.

The country’s consumption grew by 5% in 2012 to 40 million tonnes, according to Metal Expert estimations.

Of that volume, consumption of hot rolled coil (HRC) was up by 2% at 8.8 million tonnes, and cold rolled coil (CRC) up by 7% at 3.8 million tonnes, according to Metal Expert.

Plate consumption fell, however, by 14% to 4.1 million tonnes. This was due to a fall in consumption of large-diameter pipes (LDP), which are made from plate, Terlovoy said.

LDP consumption in 2012 was down by 50%, he said, without giving the actual tonnage.

Coated steel consumption was up by 14% at 5.6 million tonnes.

Rebar consumption also shot up in 2012, by 20% to 7.8 million tonnes. This was thanks to small-scale construction rather than big infrastructure projects, Terlovoy said.

Consumption of rails dropped by 10% in 2012 to 895,000 tonnes. These mainly go to maintenance work, rather than construction of new railways, Terlovoy said.

Metal Expert expects rail consumption in Russia to continue to fall.