Russian integrated steel producer Evraz Group has announced a year on year increase in steel production volumes for the third quarter.

Steel production volumes increased by 4% year-on-year due to demand recovery, but decreased by 5% quarter-on-quarter mainly due to seasonal repairs

· Steel product mixshifted in favour of finished goods

· Coking coal production decreased due to longwall repositioning at two of its mines

· Prices for steel products and coking coal remained essentially flat

In the third quarter, the production of crude steel increased by 4% against 3Q 2010 due to higher production volumes in North America and Ukraine.

However, compared to the previous quarter it decreased by 5% due to lower production volumes in Russia, the Czech Republic and South Africa.

The output of finished goods reflected the redistribution of crude steel supply between different product groups primarily due to seasonal fluctuations of market demand.