Iron and steel industry of Russia in the XXI century

S V Dokuchaev

doi:10.1088/1757-899x/966/1/012059

Abstract

The author states that over the past twenty years, the iron and steel industry of Russia has held its position as one of the key industries of the Russian economy. Technological upgrading of production facilities has minimized the backwardness, however the rapid steel production growth in Asia has resulted in loosing business in the global steel market, while getting more dependent on the market situation. This article deals with the main trends, problems and collisions of the steel industry development in the first two decades of this century. The structure of Russian steel export is reviewed. This work is based on statistical and comparative analysis, ratings and forecasts, as well as theoretical postulates of Douglas North about the close relationship of market economy processes with political and social institutions of the country. The purpose of the article is to show that the industry is facing impending stagnation under the economic sanctions, export dependency of the Russian steel industry and worldwide steel overproduction. The following may be taken as the scientific results of the study: systematization, generalization and author’s assessment of processes in the Russian steel industry and its development prospects, against the background of global trends in the industry.

Highlights

The steel industry is a key industry for the country
The following problems can be highlighted: a) Protectionism in PRC, restricting their markets for foreign exporters; for Russia it means that the industry will have to focus on cast steel and rolled products with low added value, despite the stepwise upgrade of production technologies; b) Sanctions of the industrial countries against Russian economy after 2014 that slowed down its development, reduced the domestic demand for steel and put additional obstacles in the way of Russian steel producers in the foreign markets; c) Both rapid domestic production growth and steel overproduction in Asia, like worldwide
Summary The Russia's economic growth in the first decade of the 21st century was stimulated by high energy prices

Summary

Introduction

The steel industry is a key industry for the country. The high level of its export orientation makes it one of the basic sectors of the real economy and an important source of foreign currency in the Russian Federation. The goal of this research is to identify the main trends and collisions in the development of the Russian steel industry, that have occurred over the past two decades. To achieve this goal, the industry development was assessed basing on the analysis of the main steel industry performance indicators, both in Russia and worldwide. By the beginning of the 21st century, the industry had adapted to market conditions. This process was quite painful and took the last decade of the twentieth century.

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

South Korea Germany

Findings

Country China India USA Japan Russia South Korea