Russia’s Novorossiysk rolling plant, formerly known as REMZ and currently belonging to Novorossmetall holding, has received a law suit from Moscow-registered “BMZ Trading House”, owned by Belarus-based steel producer BMZ. The claimant seeks to charge RUB 498.7 million as a debt and RUB 3.1 million as a penalty. In US dollars, the total amount is around $7 million. The lawsuit has been registered and the court case evaluation is scheduled for March 23.
According to market sources, the law suit is about the billet supplies conducted previously by BMZ to REMZ, which is owned by Novorossmetal, which is a rather large billet and longs exporter from the south of the EU. Despite the sanctions, the producer is still finding a way to remain in the market, although it is forced to sell at a discount due to the toxicity of its products amid Western sanctions. The market information states that BMZ claims its earlier supplied billets volumes were unpaid for by Novorossmetal. Moreover, the semis were intended for domestic usage in Russia by REMZ, but the producer suspects they were exported by the Russian mill as its own products. The market sources expect the traders involved in the export billet sales by Novorossmetal to also be involved in the court case.
