MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Metals consumption in Russia may fall by 5-7% this year due to a slowdown in demand in construction, Chief Executive Officer of Severstal Alexander Shevelev told TASS.
"Unfortunately, our forecast is negative compared with the beginning of the year when we expected a 1-2% slip in metals consumption. However, considering a 9% drop by the end of Q3 we understand that consumption may fall by 5-7% by the end of the year. Construction has fallen in the first place as a result of a slowdown in demand due to the key rate, the lack of possibility to refinance and high risks," he said.
A number of the company’s clients, mainly representatives of small and medium business, prefer to scale down activities and deposit funds as return on them equals and some cases exceed business returns, CEO added.
The Russian Steel association projected earlier that Russia’s domestic consumption would contract by 6% by the end of the year. Shevelev said in an interview with TASS earlier that metals consumption in the country would grow by around 1-2% each year within the next five years.
According to Russian Steel, metals consumption in Russia rose by 7.4% in 2023 compared with 2022.