According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal Customs Service, in the first quarter of 2009 Russia exported 6.201 million metric tons of ferrous metals (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) - down 17.2 percent, 1.01 million metric tons of pig iron - down 25.7 percent, 178,800 metric tons of ferroalloys - down 2.6 percent, 3.276 million metric tons of semi-finished steel products - down 22.4 percent, 1.911 million metric tons of flat rolled products - down 5.8 percent, 3.6 million metric tons of iron ore and concentrate - down 32 percent, and 556,200 metric tons of coke and semi-coke - down 17 percent, all compared to the corresponding period of 2008.
During the period in question, Russia decreased its ferrous metal imports (excluding pig iron, ferroalloys and scrap) by 50 percent and its steel pipe imports by 45.4 percent year on year, to 514,800 metric tons and 149,400 metric tons respectively.