Ex-CIS hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have so far managed to avoid significant price drops for April production, despite the overall business conditions becoming more challenging. One of the key supporting factors is the absence of Russia’s MMK, which leaves more rooms for other CIS-based sellers and also supports mills’ positions in terms of domestic sales in Russia.
Ukraine’s Metinvest is in the market to sell April production HRC from Zaporizhstal with the workable level set at around $460-465/mt FOB. In particular, last week the producer sold 20,000 mt of HRC to Turkey at $475-480/mt CFR, while this week another 5,000 mt were traded at the same price level. Initially, the seller was targeting $490/mt CFR, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
Russia’s NLMK has started offering April production HRC for export at $470-475/mt FOB, practically in line with the latest deals closed for March rolling. Offers to the Turkish market have been voiced at $490-495/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has learned. According to sources, NLMK will again have a limited allocation to sell, partly due to larger sales to its local market.
The reduced business activity of EU-based HRC customers has pulled down offers from Russia’s Severstal by $10/mt since early this month to $480-490/mt FOB Baltic Sea for the north of the EU. According to sources, the highest bids from southern Europe are at around $475-480/mt FOB, while the lowest hit $450-460/mt FOB, which is not acceptable to the seller. Despite the discounts provided, Severstal is not under much pressure and is offering for end of April-early May production.
The general expectation regarding the flat steel market situation is mainly pessimistic for now globally. Asian suppliers have already come to Turkey with sizeable sales and, if the situation in the EU severely impacts production and consumption, the HRC sellers in the region will find themselves under pressure, SteelOrbis understands.
