During the fourth week of 2007, the demand from the export markets for
CIS-origin products remained strong for all product varieties. However, the strong demand from the external markets did not end up in price rises for
flats products, which instead continued to retain their previous levels. As for the
CIS domestic markets, the worsening of the weather in
Russia led to the slowdown of the recently revived market, in turn causing a drop in prices.
Scrap: CIS export market still strong
During the fourth week, the Black Sea region
scrap market continued to be governed by an upward trend in regard to market activity. Due to the high demand from both the Turkish domestic and export markets for long products and billets, the traditional importers of
CIS-origin
scrap did not slow down their purchases. Although the majority of purchases were made on deep sea
scrap, A3 grade
scrap was also in demand, though the volume of it offered to the market was considerably smaller. On the price front, during the week ended January 28, thanks to the active purchases of the Turkish steel mills, the
CIS scrap exporters were able to increase their prices by $5-10/mt.
The Russian domestic
scrap market retained its stable characteristics during the fourth week of 2007. However, the worsening of the weather conditions last week as well as the high demand for
scrap in
Russia's export markets and also the lessening of the
scrap stocks of local mills, may lead to a sharpening of the situation in the Russian domestic market. But as of last week, the
scrap quotations in the Russian domestic market were stable.
The Ukrainian domestic market, surprisingly enough, continued its stable trend during the fourth week as well. Compared to the situation in the Ukrainian domestic
scrap market in 2006, where the mills were constantly raising their prices, the first four weeks of 2007 may be considered as a record as regards stability for the Ukrainian market. In the course of the week ended January 28,
scrap in the Ukrainian domestic market was quoted in a price range of UAH 1,045 – 1,100/mt ($207-218).
Long Products: return of winter in Russia leads to market deterioration
The long products markets of the
Middle East and Gulf regions continued to be the main attraction for
CIS origin
semis during the fourth week of the year. The high demand for the products in the regions in question allows
CIS billets exporters not only increase their sales but also to increase their prices. Thus, in the fourth week the
CIS origin billets increased by nearly $20/mt.
CIS-origin long products saw some positive corrections for their export markets during the week in question as well. However the upward price trend impacted on different product categories during the fourth week. Whereas
wire rod and
rebar prices experienced the upward trend during the third week, during the week ended January 28, export quotations for
CIS-origin structural steel rose by $5-10/mt.
During the fourth week of the year, the Russian domestic long products market started to experience a negative trend due to the worsening of weather conditions. Because of the favorable weather during the first half of January many
construction firms resumed their activities in the market and therefore caused a regeneration in
rebar prices. However, the return of the usual Russian winter weather during last week pushed
rebar prices down. Thus in the course of the fourth week,
rebar in the Russian local market decreased in price by an average of five percent. But traders continue to import from
Turkey and
Egypt for spring.
During the fourth week, the Ukrainian domestic
longs market continued to show downward characteristics. Thus,
rebar prices dropped by UAH 10/mt ($2), while beam and angle decreased by UAH 8/mt ($1.5) each.
Flat rolled: CIS export offers assume stability
The
CIS-origin flat rolled prices saw a halt to their upward movement in the export markets during the fourth week. Although demand from the
Middle East and Gulf regions is still high for
CIS-origin
flats, export quotations did not see much fluctuation during the week in question.
In the fourth week, the Russian domestic
flats market experienced different trends. If HR and CR showed some negative movement during the week – HR decreased by on average Ruble 60/mt ($2) while CR declined by on average Ruble 100/mt ($3),
galvanized steel increased in price by an average of Ruble 120/mt ($4).
The state of the Ukrainian domestic
flats market continued to push prices down in the week ended January 28. Thus, HR decreased by UAH 5/mt ($1), CR dropped by UAH 25/mt ($5), while
galvanized steel fell by UAH 30/mt ($6) in the Ukrainian domestic market during the week in question.