Reuters cited Russia"s biggest steelmaker Severstal as saying that Russian steel demand could fall by up to 10% in the first half of 2009 due to a global slowdown but may see a significant recovery in the second half.

Mr Andrey Laptev head of strategic department at Severstal told a Metal Bulletin steel conference in Paris that "In the first half, we could see a big decline; in excess of 5% to 10%, maybe more in consumption.”
He said that "My guess is that there will be a very big difference in the first and second half of 2009. In the second half we could see a significant recovery in consumption.”

Mr Laptev said that "The worst of the mess was November and the worst quarter is fourth quarter. We are facing a combination of sharply reduced demand and de stocking. All this stimulus packages do not seem to have had enough time to make it into the market."

Steel demand and prices have collapsed in the last four months, due to deteriorating demand from major steel consuming industries such as the construction, automotive and white goods.