Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade considers that the country's steel companies should conclude at least quarterly supply contracts, at fixed prices agreed by both sides, with Russian Railways (RZhD) and Russian state-owned heavy machine building company Uralvagonzavod, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti has stated citing a ministry official.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in early April this year RZhD and Uralvagonzavod announced their dissatisfaction with the pricing policy of the local steel producers and with the significant increase in domestic steel product prices. As a result, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) decided to initiate an investigation. According to its preliminary results, FAS did not discover any evidence of steelmakers' abuse of their dominant position in the market, while the growth of domestic prices for steel products was considered to be justified.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, FAS took the position of the domestic steel producers as, amid a two-fold increase in the cost of coal and iron ore, prices for steel products increased by an average of only 20-30 percent.