According to the data issued by the Russian Special Steel and Alloys Consumers and Suppliers Association (Spetsstal), in January this year Russia's imports of the main stainless steel products decreased by 33.1 percent from December 2010 to 12,932 mt, but compared to January 2010 and January 2009 rose by 61.5 percent and 112.8 percent respectively. The month-on-month decrease was due to the long period of holidays in Russia in the month of January.
Of total Russian stainless steel product imports in January of the current year, flat steel products accounted for 58.5 percent, long steel products accounted for 16.7 percent, 9.7 percent consisted of seamless pipes, 9.5 percent was made up of welded pipes, 3.8 percent was accounted for by wire, while billets and slabs accounted for 1.8 percent.