MOSCOW: According to recently released data by the Russian Trade Statistics, the pig iron exports by Russia during the month of June this year dropped slightly when compared with the exports during same month a year before. However, the exports during the initial half of 2016 were up by nearly 5% over the previous year.
Russia’s pig iron exports totaled 634,000 tons in June this year. The total exports were down marginally by 4.1% over the previous year. The country’s pig iron exports had totaled 661,000 tons during the same month in 2015. However, the country’s pig iron exports in June ’16 increased sharply by 43.2% relative to the prior month. Russia’s pig iron exports had totaled 455,673 tons during May this year.
The largest importer of Russian pig iron during June ‘16 was Spain with 175,000 tons. The exports to Spain increased sharply by over 25 times when compared with the exports of 7,000 tons during the same month in 2015. The exports to Spain accounted for nearly 28% of the total pig iron exports by Russia during the month. The second largest importer was the US. The imports by the US witnessed significant decline over the previous year. The exports tumbled by 65% from 408,000 tons in June last year to 143,000 tons in June ‘16. The top two importing nations accounted for more than 50% of the total pig iron shipments out of Russia during June ‘16.
The cumulative pig iron exports by the country during the initial half of 2016 totaled 2.66 million tons, 4.5% higher when compared with the exports of 2.545 million tons during the corresponding six-month period in 2015. According to statistics published by the Customs Committee of Russia, monthly exports averaged at 440,000 tons during the first six months of 2016. The country’s pig iron exports during the entire year 2016 are estimated to total around 4.860 million tons.
