Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was the third city in the Far East region of Russia, where the annual conference “Far East Steel Market 2008” took place. The conference is co-hosted by the Russian Union of Metal Products Suppliers and RUSTEEL Company.

The participants of the conference decided to organize the conference in different cities of the Far Eastern Federal District for annual meeting to evaluate the market situation of the last year and make an outlook for the next year, to search the ways to solve general problems and to invite new participants to the conference. The first conference was held in Vladivostok city, as it was organized by the initiative of RUSTEEL Company, which has leading positions in steel trade in the Far Eastern region of Russia.

Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk was an ideal venue for the conference, as the investments into the economic development of the Sakhalin Oblast totaled 126 bn RUB in 2007. Construction boom, resulting from the projects “Sahalin-1,-2”, is expected to continue, and construction is the major consuming sector for steel products.

The head of Sakhalin Oblast Construction Department Olga Volkova welcomed the delegates and described the present situation in the sector. The total amount of contract work was 70 bn RUB in 2007. This sector is the second largest after the oil industry in fiscal payments, in 2007 it totaled 8.5 bn RUB.

Two leading Sakhalin steel trading companies, “Sector Ltd” and Sakhalin Oblast Warehouse (“OMK Ltd”), co-hosted the conference. Besides that, more than 50 delegates from steel plants, steel traders and constructing sector attended the conference to talk with colleges, partners and competitors, including “TMK” (Moscow), “Amurmetal” (Komsomolsk-on-Amur), “Inprom” (Taganrog), “Stal Trest” (Ekaterinburg), the representatives of “MITSUI & CO.LTD” in Vladivostok, etc.