OJSC NovolipetskSteel, or NLMK, said April 14 that its crude steel output in the firstquarter increased 3% year over year to 4.0 million tonnes due to higher productionat its Russian Long Products and at NLMK USA.

At NLMK USA, production grew 68% on a yearly basis to 158,000tonnes, which the group attributed to the restart of the steelmaking facility afterrepairs paired with a recovery in U.S. steel demand.

Output at NLMK Long Products, meanwhile, fell 11% year over yearto 615,000 tonnes.

Group sales during the quarter rose 2% on a yearly basis to 4.0million tonnes, driven by recovering steel demand in North America and growth inbillets exports. Finished steel sales increased to 2.5 million tonnes,an 8% increase year over year.

Shipments of flat products increased 14% year over year, whilesales of long products and metalware fell 10%.

As for raw materials output, NLMK produced about 1.5 milliontonnes of coke and 4.3 million tonnes of iron ore during the period, representinga 6% decrease and a 1% increase, respectively, over year-ago figures.