Russian and Ukrainian hot rolled coil (HRC) producers have managed to largely close their December production export sales and, moreover, to sell the remaining volumes with a price increase. The latest deals were closed to Turkey and North Africa, while the earlier large volumes were traded to Vietnam.
Russia’s MMK has recently traded 30,000-40,000 mt of HRC to Turkey at $515/mt CFR, while earlier some 30,000 mt were sold to the same destination at $500-505/mt CFR, sources report. The mill is said to be sold out for December for now, with the current indications not lower than $520/mt CFR Turkey. The freight is normally estimated at $15/mt to the Turkish market.
Severstal was selling December production HRC mainly to the EU at $520/mt FOB and above for big coils early this week. However,the latest workable level for its big coils is estimated at $530-535/mt FOB for both late December and early January production. The most recent price for small coils has been set at $500/mt FOB.
NLMK, according to sources, has been aiming to sell at above $525/mt CFR Turkey, up from $515/mt CFR announced earlier. Some sources report the December allocation has been sold by the producer.
Ukraine’s Metinvest has been also active in sales this week. The producer has traded small coils at $510/mt CFR to Turkey and Egypt and big coils at $520-525/mt CFR to Turkey. The December production volumes from Ukraine are more or less sold out. As a result, Metinvest’s FOB levels have increased by at least $10/mt over the past week to $495-505/mt FOB depending on the coil weight, SteelOrbis estimates.