Domestic flats prices rise in Russia, trade sufficient

Despite the seasonal slowdown in consumption and fears of a new wave of Covid-19 and its possible effects, sales of flats in the local Russian market have been satisfactory for local mills and has let them pull up their prices. The key reason is that there is limited allocation from the producers, resulting from some maintenance works, but also from the rather active export trade.

Over the month the local prices for hot rolled coils (HRC) in Russia have increased by $3-14/mt (RUB 1,000-2,000/mt). Mills report that orders keep coming and there are some fears among buyers that the producers might increase their export allocation, given the rapid global uptrend. For now, Severstal has managed to sell at $550/mt FOB (January production) at the highest, given the good demand in the EU. In the meantime, MMK has already almost closed January production sales and is not in a rush to enter the next round of sales. NLMK, having a limited allocation as usual, also prefers to watch the market for now.

In the cold rolled steel segment, the demand is said to be much better in the local market compared to the demand for HRC. Taking into account the limited production at MMK, the supply volume in the market has been limited for a while now. Over the month the cold rolled sheets has increased by $4-9/mt (RUB 500-1,000/mt) CPT, SteelOrbis has learned.

Domestic flat steel prices in Russia, CPT Moscow

US dollar-based prices do not include 20 percent VAT.

USD 1 = RUB 77.6