Russia’s Severstal, one of the key flats steel producers and exporters from the CIS, will be out of the export slab market in the coming months. According to market sources, the company plans maintenance at two out of its three basic oxygen converters, each with around 3 million mt per year capacity. The works are scheduled to be conducted within the first quarter of 2020, while the first facility will be stopped in January for around 10 days of maintenance, SteelOrbis has learned.
As a result, Severstal will not have sufficient volumes of steel slab for sale in the coming four months. However, the maintenance is not expected to impact the company’s position in the hot rolled coil (HRC) segment. In recent months, Severstal has had around 200,000-250,000 mt of HRC for export, versus the usual 150,000 mt. The volume has been higher than the normal one as since June this year the company’s pickling line has been in maintenance, to be finalized in the first quarter of next year.