Russian steelmaker Severstal has decided to postpone the start of its continuous pickling line which was earlier scheduled for May. The company has shifted the launch of the facility, capable of processing 160,000 mt of coils per month, to summer and will act in accordance with business conditions in the market. The pickling line has been in reconstruction since June last year when the old equipment was torn down and the construction of the new one was started.
With the postponement of the pickling line launch, Severstal will not yet show a reduction in its hot rolled coil (HRC) export allocation, which was earlier estimated as around 50,000 mt per month. Moreover, taking into account the weaker local market in Russia, the company’s estimated export volume for May has been close to 250,000 mt, versus the usual 200,000 mt, SteelOrbis understands. It is worth mentioning that other Russian HRC producers have also shifted some additional volumes to exports for May production either in the form of coils or steel slabs.
