Russia’s total stainless steel (SS) imports in 2020 increased by 3.8pc to 383,200mt as compared to 2019, according to data provided by Russia’s SpetsStal Association.
The country’s flat stainless steel product imports in 2020 grew by 7.5pc, while long stainless steel products and electric-welded stainless steel pipe imports rose by 8.7pc and 5.5pc, respectively, from the preceding year. Russia’s imports of stainless steel primary billet in 2020 rose by 33.8pc from the previous year.
In 2020, stainless steel wire imports fell by 35.7pc, while imports of stainless steel seamless pipes declined by 17.7pc as compared to the year before.
The number of direct importers of stainless steel in 2020 fell by 11pc to 1,920 companies. The Russian companies directly imported stainless steel products worth $912.76mn from 43 countries across the globe in 2020. The top stainless steel supplier to Russia in 2020 was China, supplying 39.8pc of the total imports, followed by India (13.8pc), Indonesia (7.8pc), Taiwan (7.3pc), and South Korea (5.6pc).
Of total stainless steel import volume, the stainless steel imports from Asian countries grew by 76.9pc in 2020, while stainless steel imports from European Union by 16.2pc. Stainless steel imports volume to Russia in 2020 from other European countries fell by 5.1pc, while imports from African and American countries decreased by 1.2pc and 0.6pc, respectively.