Steel demand in Russia fell by 16% over the first eight months of 2026

Reuters, citing Severstal’s assessment, reports that steel demand in Russia fell by 16% over the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, and by 31% since the start of 2024; this is reported by The Moscow Times.

At Severstal, the decline in construction is linked to the high cost of borrowed financing, a cooling housing market, cuts to support programs for machine building, pressure from imported products, delays in infrastructure projects, and the lower steel intensity of new projects.

According to the company, additional pressure on the industry is being created by rising tariffs from natural monopolies, logistics costs, and labor expenses. Severstal’s marketing director Dmitry Maksimov said that Russian metallurgy needs to adapt business models to low and volatile consumption, develop new areas of steel use, increase processing depth, and create integrated solutions for customers.

According to him, Russian metal producers could replace imports in segments with high added value — in metal structures, machinery, finished products, parts, and blanks for machine building. Maksimov estimated that this would add at least 1 million tons of metal consumption per year.

Sources

• Material: ru.themoscowtimes.com