According to the data issued by Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, in Q1 2010 the country domestic consumption of rolled steel products went up by 23.6%YoY to 6.8 million tonnes.

In Q1 this year, deliveries of Russian origin rolled steel products to the domestic market increased by 5.5% to 5.8 million tonnes while imports of these products doubled to 1 million tonnes both compared to Q1 2009.

The company said "The increase in rolled steel products consumption is due to the rise of demand for pipe making and hardware production, as well as due to the growth in steel consuming industries."