Russian steelmaker MMK Group has stated that steel demand in the Russian market has been recovering since the middle of the year. In the first nine months this year, steel consumption in Russia increased by 4.8 percent year on year, thanks to developments in the construction and pipe industries. The increase led to the expectation that the decline in steel demand this year may not exceed two percent, even considering the traditional seasonal demand slowdown.
The company also noted that its steel product sales in the first nine months this year exceeded 8 million mt, of which 83 percent were in the domestic market and the CIS market. The share of premium products sales increased to 44 percent from 41.8 percent recorded at the end of 2021, while the share of hot rolled coil sales was also at 44 percent and the share of long product and billet sales accounted amounted to 12 percent.