In the first half of the year, the import volume of coated steel in Russia increased by nearly 1.5 times

In the first half of this year, Russia's imports of galvanized steel and coated steel increased significantly. On the one hand, it is due to seasonal factors, the increase of consumer demand and the overall recovery of activities after the epidemic.
On the other hand, in a certain period from January to June, there was a temporary shortage of available quantity in the domestic market, but there was no significant change in the supply structure50000 tons of coated steel, with a year-on- year increase of 49% . The import volume of galvanized steel increased by 1.5 times to nearly 350000 tons. The increase was mainly due to the increased supply of Kazakhstan (+ 40%, 191000 tons) and China (4.4 times, 74000 tons).
In addition to the seasonal growth of consumption activities in the construction industry, limited domestic supply and extremely low inventories of processors and traders have contributed to increased interest in imports. Despite the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Chinese products, the sales volume has increased due to the unrestricted use of aluminum silicon coiled materials. At the same time, the supply of galvanized steel in Ukraine, which is also subject to financial measures, remains at the lowest level (1000 tons). High quality rolling products from South Korea (+ 37%, nearly 60000 tons) and Europe (11000 tons in Belgium, 3000 tons in Germany and 1000 tons in Finland) continue to enjoy relatively stable demand in Russia.

The import volume of coated coiled materials increased by 32% to 155000 tons. The resources of non CIS countries had been signed at the beginning of the year. At that time, the domestic supply was limited and the inventory of major domestic suppliers was insufficient. The structure of coated steel imported from Russia remained unchanged, while China remained the largest supplier (+ 98%, 72000 tons), while the coated steel imported from Kazakhstan decreased slightly (- 9%, 28000 tons). High quality coating coiled materials imported from Korea and Belgium are 30000 tons (+ 34%) and 6000 tons (- 59%) respectively. Finland supplied 7000 tons (+ 45%)