CIS-based hot rolled coil (HRC) exporters have opened their sales for January production. Moreover, most of them have increased the prices, supported by the positive market fundamentals and the still limited allocation in the market, while the competition with other suppliers, in the Mediterranean region specifically, remains low.
Russia’s Severstal is lucky to have European markets to focus on where the increased purchasing activity has resulted in another $10/mt rise in deal prices to $540-545/mt FOB for big coils. Overall, since early this month, the company has traded around 60,000 mt at $530-545/mt FOB and the total export HRC volume for December production is expected to be around 180,000 mt, SteelOrbis has learned. Moreover, recently the mill has managed to achieve $550/mt FOB in sales for 15,000-20,000 mt of January production big coils to the EU, setting a new record in the most recent round of sales.
MMK has closed December production sales with deals to Turkey and Asia, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. Initial offers for January production have been voiced at $520/mt FOB Black Sea or $535/mt CFR specifically to Turkey. The previous deal prices for HRC in Turkey were settled at $515/mt CFR or around $500/mt FOB as reported earlier. However, as of today the mill has increased its offers to $525-530/mt FOB, SteelOrbis has learned.
Another Russian mill, NLMK, has also sold out its December production volumes which totaled around 50,000-60,000 mt. The majority of the volume was sold to Turkey at $530-535/mt CFR with around $15/mt in estimated freight. Some 10,000 mt were sold to Egypt at $530/mt CFR, SteelOrbis has heard. Currently, there is no price indication from NLMK for January production as the supplier prefers to watch the market developments.
Ukraine’s Metivest has also closed December sales and has increased its prices for January production by around $10/mt over the past week. The supplier’s offers are at $535/mt and $545/mt for small and big coils, respectively, both on CFR Turkey basis. “Turkey is at $550/mt ex-works and upward and there is a certain shortage while demand is good,” a trader told SteelOrbis.
