Steel production increased in the CIS countries in Q4 thanks to a pick-up in business activity. Ukrainian steelmakersstepped up the volume by 11% to 8.8 mt, whereas the previous quarter they had reduced it by a larger amount ascompared with Russian plants. In Q3, the Russians raised steel output by 2% to 17.0 mt. Global demand for semifinishedand finished steel products will keep strengthening slowly in Q1 2011, although the reason behind the increasein buying will still be the need to replenish stocks rather than a big growth of consumption by construction and autosectors. So, steel production will likely continue to rise throughout the quarter. Relatively low production costs will allowCIS steelmakers to maintain or increase capacity utilization rates slightly.
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