During the 26th week of 2008 (June 23-29), the CIS steel markets saw very mixed tendencies. On the one hand, both CIS domestic and export scrap markets saw a rather calm week, with price fluctuations occurring only in the Russian domestic market, but within existing ranges. The markets for flat products also spent the week on a rather stable note. On the other hand, the CIS export billet market saw an increase only in Iran-related offers, while the increase in ex-CIS rebar offers is yet to gain acceptance.
The new and unexpected trend has been seen in the Russian domestic market, where the price for rebar retained its previous levels, while prices for some flats saw a reduction. On the other hand, the Ukrainian domestic market for steel products saw the start of new wave of price increases during the 26th week, after a relatively calm 25th week.
Scrap: Prices are stable in all markets
The calm trend continued to prevail in the Black Sea region scrap market during the 26th week. Although price offers of CIS scrap exporters have been reduced considerably over the last couple of weeks, Turkish scrap consumers continue to abstain from active purchases. During the week in question, the price levels for A3 grade scrap from the Black Sea sustained their previous levels of $680-690/mt CFR Turkey.
The Russian and Ukrainian domestic scrap markets did not register many price fluctuations during the week ended June 29 either. Although some minor changes were seen in the procurement prices for scrap of both Ukrainian and Russian mills, they were carried out within existing price ranges.
Longs: Russian domestic longs market sees calm trend for first time since beginning of the year
It seems that the continuous price rise for ex-CIS billets came to the end during the last week of June. With the amount of available billets increasing in the Middle East and Gulf markets, consumers from these regions became more reluctant to accept further price rises. The only import market which saw a price rise for ex-CIS billets was Iran, where price offers for billets increased by $20-30/mt.
Meanwhile, a small price rise, to the tune of about $10/mt, was seen in the market for CIS origin long products. However, these new prices are yet to be accepted by consumers.
During the week ended June 29, the Russian domestic longs market saw some stabilization, for the first time in a very long time. This stabilization trend can be explained by the increased availability of cheaper imports from neighboring countries, which is caused by the strength of the domestic market. The price level of rebar in the Russian retail market saw hardly any changes during the week in question. However, a new price can be expected soon as domestic steel producers increased their July prices for the domestic market.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian domestic longs market showed an upward correction in retail rebar price levels during the 26th week, after a rather small adjustment during the previous week. The price for rebar in the Ukrainian retail market increased by about UAH 130/mt ($28/mt).
Flats: Both CIS export and domestic markets post relative stability
Following the price increase in the previous week, the CIS flats market remained stable during the week ended June 29.
During the week in question, the Russian domestic market registered a rather stable trend as regards flat products, with a slight price decrease even registered in some products.
The Ukrainian domestic flats market, on the other hand, saw a rising price trend during the 26th week, following a calm 25th week. Thus, HR saw an increase of UAH 30/mt ($7/mt) and CR went up by only UAH 7/mt ($1.5/mt) in the Ukrainian domestic market during the week in question.