The Russian government has drafted a decree banning ferrous scrap exports from St. Petersburg's Bolshoi port, according to local media sources. St. Petersburg is the main Russia port for scrap shipments to Europe.
Other northwestern Russian ports such as Ust-Luga, Murmansk, Kaliningrad and Vyborg might be alternative scrap export shipment points; however, Ust-Luga is said to have draft problems, while Murmansk is located in the far north, resulting in higher freight costs.
The decree expected to come into effect on January 1, 2013 at the latest is still subject to presidential approval.
In January, the Russian government also announced an export ban for scrap shipments from Russia's Far Eastern ports except Magadan, starting from February 13. Regarding ex-Black Sea scrap shipments, market insiders indicate that it is unlikely the government will apply a ban on scrap exports from Rostov, Russia's major scrap export port on Black Sea.