During the 51st week (December 17-23) of 2007, the CIS export markets for most products continued to show high levels of activity regardless of the celebration of Eid-al-Adha by many importing counties. The only exception has been the flats export market, which was stable during the week in question. Meanwhile the Russian domestic markets were governed by mixed trends depending on the product. Whereas the Russian scrap and flat markets were stable during the week ended December 23, the Russian domestic longs market resumed its downward trend. The Ukrainian domestic markets also showed mixed trends during the week in question. On the one hand, stability has been seen in the country's scrap market. On the other, the Ukrainian domestic longs and flats markets showed upward trends during the week.
Scrap: Black Sea region scrap market to be active till end of the year
Regardless of the religious holidays and the upcoming New Year celebrations, the Black Sea region scrap market was very active during the 51st week. The main reason for this trend has been the expectation of a further price rise after the New Year holidays. Meanwhile, the prices for ex-CIS material continued to rise during the week, while supplies offered in the direction of Turkey were somewhat limited. The latest booking for ex-CIS scrap to Turkey stood at $418/mt CIF Marmara. On the other hand, the Far East destination also experienced some positive trends during the week in question.
Both the Ukrainian and Russian domestic scrap markets stood still during the week ended December 23. The calm trend in the market is expected to continue till the middle of January, though market participants are reluctant to make predictions about the direction scrap prices will take after that.
Longs: Price increase continues in CIS billet and longs export market but at slower pace
Both CIS billet and longs continued to show price rising trends in their export markets, in particular in the Middle East and Gulf regions, during the 51st week. However, the pace of price increase for ex-CIS products during the week in question was somewhat slower when compared to previous weeks. As far as supplies are concerned, the clear redirection of the majority of export offers toward the Middle East, Gulf and North African markets has been observed, while the amounts offered to other markets are somewhat limited.
The Russian domestic longs market, returned to its usual decreasing trend in the rebar segment during the 51st week. After the price rise registered in the 50th week, rebar decreased by about Ruble 300/mt ($12/mt) in the retail market.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian domestic market saw a revival in rebar during the 51st week. The renewed export of longs and semis products was the reason for the rebar price rise in the Ukrainian retail market - as was the case regarding the Russian rebar market price rise during the 50th week. As a result, rebar in the Ukrainian domestic market went up by UAH 5-25/mt ($1-5/mt) during the week in question.
Flats: Export price rise expected to resume in coming weeks
During the 51st week of the year, the CIS export market more or less followed a stable trend, with no significant price change observed in most of the export markets. However, the prices are expected to resume their upward movement after the end of the holiday period, especially in the Turkish and Iranian import markets - the latter of which continues to attract HR imports from the CIS.
During the week ended December 23, the Russian domestic flats market entered a period of stability which is expected to continue till after the end of the holiday period.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian domestic flats market saw some positive price corrections during the 51st week. Due to the expectation of a price rise directly after the New Year, demand in the market has caused the price for CR to increase by on average UAH 40/mt ($8/mt), while HR rose by UAH 10/mt ($2/mt).