Russia’s billet exports declined by 6.2pc in the first half of the year to 7.21mn mt when compared to 7.69mn mt in H1 2020, according to the country’s Customs data.
The country’s exports also fell 13pc in June to 1.12mn mt from 1.29mn mt in the same month last year and increased by 4pc from 1.07mn mt in May.
Taiwan was the largest importer of billet from the country, recording an 8pc increase to 325,098mt in June from 300,296mt in June 2020. The second-largest was Turkey, despite a 5pc decline to 187,713mt from 197,298mt within the same timeframe. Djibouti joined the list of importers in June, recording an import volume of 33,815mt.