It seems that the Russian government has decided against the introduction of a specific export duty on the main metallurgical raw materials, such as scrap and coking coal, in favor of a switch by domestic steelmakers to long-term contracts with domestic consumers.
On June 21 the issue of the rising domestic steel prices was discussed at a meeting attended by the Russian steel producing companies and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin. It is reported that in the course of the meeting the producers were able to persuade the government that the imposition of an export duty on raw materials would not help the situation as regards the rising domestic steel prices. As an alternative to the imposition of export duty, a mechanism for the conclusion of long-term agreements between coal producers, steel producers, pipemakers and oil companies was discussed during the meeting.
In addition, several steelmakers supported the idea brought forward by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) to nullify the import duty on metallurgical raw materials, which currently varies at around five percent depending on the type of raw material.
Moreover, some other options, such as the fixing of domestic steel prices for the second half of the current year, were also proposed as a possible solution to the continuing price rises in the Russian domestic steel market. However, such options did not receive support from the steelmakers.
Yet, no final decision on how to proceed regarding the continuous price rise in the Russian steel market was taken during the meeting.