Steel demand to collapse by 30% in Russia

In a letter addressed to the First Deputy Prime Minister and signed by the President of the Association of Russian steel producers Russkaya Stal, it is reported that demand for steel in Russia could plummet by 30% this year.
The letter, dated March 28 and quoted by several authoritative sources such as S&P Global, reveals that “ferrous metal producers in Russia are facing a significant decrease in domestic demand for their products, which, among other things, is owed to production stoppages within the automotive industry.” The cumulative drop in car production could reach 50% in Russia this year.
The total reduction in demand could reach 13 million tons.

Western states' refusal to buy steel products from Russia has led the country's manufacturers to reroute some of its products to China and Asia. However, this trade flow diversion is not sufficient to compensate for exports lost because of sanctions.

Some of the big names in Russian steel include giants like Severstal, Evraz, and NLMK. Novolipetsk Steel, or NLMK, was the biggest steel producer in Russia in 2020, with 15.75 million metric tons of steel. The second largest was Evraz, followed by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and Severstal. These companies were featured in the latest ranking of the world's largest steelmakers, in 22nd, 30th, 37th, and 40th place, respectively.
In the picture, a continuous casting plant in Novolipetsk by NLMK Group. Courtesy of worldsteel.org.