The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation has approved the application of Zagorsk Tube Plant (ZTZ) for the purchase of one of Russian mining and metallurgy company Metalloinvest’s assets - Ural Steel. The purchase of Ural Steel with an annual 1.9 million mt pig iron and steel capacity will help ZTZ to secure round billet feedstock and will strengthen its position in the seamless pipe segment.
At the same time, the deal is expected to reduce the supply of merchant pig iron to the global market, causing a possible price increase at once, the market sources believe. “Although Metalloinvest has not been a big player in the basic pig iron (BPI) market recently, other suppliers are not likely to miss the chance to boost their quotations citing a supply shortage,” a trader told SteelOrbis. The most recent deal for Metalloinvest’s pig iron was done to the US at $305/mt CFR at the end of April.