At Novolipetsk Steel, a blast furnace generates a river of molten metal flowing at a rate of 8,000 tonnes a day, seven days a week.
Working inside a cavernous hangar, burly steelmen look like ants in the grey vastness. The economic crisis seems insignificant compared with the colossal forces at work at this plant, one of Russia’s largest steel producers. But even here, the downturn is biting deep.
