Posted on 24 Oct 2022
Deliveries of Russian ferrous products and many other goods are likely to increase to Asia, according to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
“European countries refused to purchase products from Russian metallurgists,” he noted at a plenary session of last week’s Made in Russia forum in Moscow. “Now, the growth in exports of rolled products to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and the CIS countries is already being observed. Given the factor of the Chinese economy, shipments of these and other Russian goods to Asian countries may grow even more.”
Earlier, the Russian government forecasted the metallurgical industry should stabilise in the near future (see Kallanish passim). Authorities also noted that industry enterprises are rapidly reorganising to other markets.
However, the latest version of Russia’s 2030 steel strategy says growth of steel production capacities in Asia and the Middle East will make it difficult for Russian steelmakers to reorient their exports from Europe to the east.
The European Commission’s eighth round of sanctions on Russia recently widened the EU ban on Russian steel, encompassing, as expected, Russian semi-finished products (see Kallanish passim). However, temporary exemptions have been granted, with slab imports permitted up to a quota exceeding 3.7 million tonnes/year until 2024.
Worldsteel noted this week that despite heavy sanctions being imposed on Russia, steel demand in the country is expected to contract by less than what was forecast at the beginning of the Ukraine war (see Kallanish passim). This is mainly due to high oil prices and government support measures for construction.
However, in 2023, steel demand is expected to see a deeper contraction as the sanctions become more biting over time, it says.
Russia’s consumption will fall in 2022 by 6% on-year to 41.3 million tonnes and by 10% next year to 37.2mt, the association observes.
Source:Kallanish
