Russian iron exports to Europe drop four-fold in 2022 despite not being sanctioned

Exports of iron ore concentrate and pellets have decreased by 4 times from Russia to Europe in 2022, down to 2.9 million tons despite the absence of sanctions on this product.

As reported by the Russian Vedomosti, citing the industry agency Metals & Mining Intelligence (MMI), the export of concentrate decreased by 8.5 times, to 0.2 million tons, pellets by 3.7 times, to 2.7 million tons and hot briquetted iron (HBI) by 7%, to 2.5 million tons.

The total volume of export of iron ore concentrate and pellets from Russia fell by 39%, to 13.6 million tons while the export of pellets from Russia to China increased by 3 times, to 1.5 million tons. The export of Russian iron ore concentrate to the country decreased by 2.5% to 7.8 million tons. The MMI claims that the ore-processing plants of the Central European part of the Russian Federation, oriented for deliveries to Europe, have not been able to completely reorient their volumes to the Chinese market.

The representative of the Russian Seversteel firm told the publication, that before the imposition of sanctions against its main shareholder, Alexey Mordashov, the company supplied pellets to Europe, mainly to Finland, yet after the imposition of sanctions, these supplies stopped, he specified. What the volumes of supplies were, he did not say.

Earlier, the WorldSteel Steel Manufacturers Association (WSA) improved the outlook for steel demand in Russia. Instead of a 20% decline in consumption in 2022, experts expected a 6% decline. But in 2023, instead of stagnation in the previous forecast, the WSA expects demand to decline by 10% due to the projected tightening of anti-Russian sanctions, as reported by Vedomosti.