Steel production in the CIS falls in May

Steel production in the CIS decreased significantly during May 2015. Steel output in Ukraine and Uzbekistan fell sharply, while Belarus and Kazakhstan showed strong growth in steel production. According to the latest data released by the World Steel Association, crude steel production in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) declined 7.6 percent during May this year compared to May 2014.

Total crude steel production in Belarus increased by 7.70 percent in May this year to 239 thousand tons from 222 thousand tons achieved in May 2014. Kazakhstan produced 382 thousand tons of crude steel, showing a significant increase of 10.3 percent compared to 346 thousand tons of products produced during May last year. Moldova recorded 37 thousand tons of steel production during the month, decreasing output by 17.8 percent over the previous year. Total crude steel production in Russia declined slightly, by 1.9 percent, to 6,100 million tonnes in May this year, compared with 6.221 million tonnes of steel in May 2014.

A significant decline in crude steel production was noted in Ukraine during May of this year. Total crude steel production in Ukraine fell sharply by 23 percent to 2.177 million tonnes in May 2015, compared with an output of 2.826 million tonnes during May last year. In addition, Uzbekistan's steel production also fell significantly, falling 18.6 percent in May this year.

The cumulative volume of steel production in the CIS countries in the first five months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 is as follows: Belarus - 1,131 thousand tons, an increase of 14.5 percent; Kazakhstan - 1,578 thousand tons, an increase of 6.0 percent; Moldova - 131 thousand tons, down 17.0 percent; Russia -30269 thousand tons, an increase of 3.2 percent; Ukraine - 9258 thousand tons, a drop of 28.3 percent; Uzbekistan - 281 thousand tons, a drop of 10.3 percent.