According to the data available from the country’s ferrous metallurgical enterprises, the ferrous metal-based rolled stock output decreased by 43.2%, 30%, 21.3%, and 18.5% at Severstal (Cherepovets Iron & Steel Works), Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works, Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works, and Mechel (Chelyabinsk Iron & Steel Works), respectively, in January-May 2009 compared with January-May 2008. This has been reported by Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Industry and Trade.

At the same time, Russia’s steel pipe production output amounted to 2,368,000 tons, with all of the country’s pipe manufacturers producing less than a year earlier. The output of Volzhskiy Pipe Plant, for instance, dropped by 54.3% in January-May 2009, that of Sinara Pipe Plant went down by 15.6%, that of Taganrog Metallurgical Plant decreased by 14.8%, that of Severskiy Pipe Plant decreased by 14%, and that of Vyksunskiy Metallurgical Plant went down by 1.1%.