Severstal says Russia’s metals consumption falls 3% in 2022

MOSCOW, Jan 31 (PRIME) -- Russia’s metals consumption fell by 3% on the year to 43.2 million tonnes in 2022, steel producer Severstal said in a statement on Tuesday.

All the industries demonstrated relative resistance in the current conditions, among other things thanks to the government’s support, the company also said.

Machinery construction demonstrated a fall of 18% due to a deficit of components, termination of logistic chains, and the exit of foreign companies from the Russian market.

The real estate construction industry’s demand for metals decreased because of a lack of large industrial and commercial realty projects and a fall of retail customers’ purchasing power, Severstal said.

In the energy sector, consumption of metals grew by 28% due to implementation of gas giant Gazprom’s largest in the past five years investment program.

“The dynamics of metals consumption were in line with the dynamics of gross domestic product (GDP). GDP is expected to continue to fall in 2023, but there is no certain view of the size of such a fall,” Severstal said.

“The Russian economy has been successfully adapting itself to the new external conditions, trade flows have been re-oriented,” the company added.

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