Metalloinvest, a leading global iron ore and hot briquetted iron (HBI) producer based in Russia, has announced its operational results for the first quarter of 2012.
Accordingly, in the given period, Metalloinvest's iron ore production decreased by 0.3 percent year on year to 9.9 million mt. Iron ore shipments increased by 6.3 percent year on year over the same period to 2.919 million mt.
Metalloinvest's pellet production and shipment volumes in the first quarter amounted to 5.8 million mt and 3.388 million mt, up 1.9 percent and down four percent respectively, both year on year. Metalloinvest saw a 5.1 percent year-on-year increase in HBI/direct reduced iron (DRI) production in the first quarter of the current year to 1.386 million mt and a 5.1 percent increase in shipment volumes to 641,000 mt.
Crude steel production in the given period were down by 5.6 percent year on year to 1.4 million mt , while pig iron output went down by 8.9 percent to 563,000 mt.
According to Metalloinvest's statement, in the first quarter of the current year its shipments of iron ore, pellets and HBI/DRI to the domestic market increased by 8.7 percent quarter on quarter to 3.6 million mt, due to the growth in deliveries to major Russian steelmakers such as NLMK and MMK based on long-term contracts.