Domestic flat steel prices in Russia have surged since mid-November despite the fact that the market usually trends down at this time of the year due to seasonal effects. However, since export sales prices have been increasing rapidly, Russian mills have been sending larger volumes to foreign buyers, which has resulted in a somewhat tight allocation locally.
Over the past two weeks, local prices for flats in Russia have in a few steps increased by $104-126/mt, depending on the mill and the product type. Producers report that demand remains uncertain. “End-users are horrified by these prices,, while traders are buying whatever cheap remaining materials they can find in the market,” a source told SteelOrbis. Stocks are reportedly low in the market and exports appear to remain strong, and so there is a good chance that the local price rise will be accepted at least partially in the market.
As regards exports, the latest HRC offers from Russia have been at around $640-645/mt FOB Black Sea and $650/mt FOB Baltic Sea. In the CRC segment, the most recent reported export prices were at around $760/mt FOB Black Sea.
Domestic flat steel prices in Russia, CPT Moscow
|
Mill/product |
RUB/mt |
$/mt |
Price change (RUB/mt) |
Price change ($/mt) |
|
HRC |
||||
|
Severstal |
55,000-56,000 |
604-615 |
+9,500-10,500 |
+115-126 |
|
MMK |
54,000 |
593 |
+8,500 |
+104 |
|
NLMK |
56,000 |
615 |
+10,500 |
+126 |
|
CRS |
||||
|
MMK |
65,000 |
714 |
+10,000 |
+123 |
|
Severstal |
65,000 |
714 |
+9,500 |
+118 |
US dollar-based prices do not include 20 percent VAT.
US$1 = RUB 75.86