The domestic flats market in Russia remains relatively positive in terms of demand and mills’ sales, taking some pressure from their export activities. The sales volumes for April production are set to remain limited, but are foreseen to be sold at higher levels than for March rolling, given the uptrend globally and in Turkey in particular.
The current workable prices for the hot-rolled sheet (HRS) in Russia are at RUB 63,000 mt CPT from mills, which is around $700/mt CPT in the US dollar equivalent. The stock prices for cold-rolled sheet (CRS) are at RUB 69,000/mt CPT or around $765/mt CPT, while one of the producers has announced its CRS offer for April production at RUB 72,000/mt ($800/mt) CPT, up by RUB 5,000/mt ($35/mt) over the past month. The mills’ HRS prices for the new month of rolling are expected to be announced next week.
As for exports, Russia is in the market to sell April production HRC, and availability is set to be limited. Overall, according to some market players’ estimations, the volume might reach 90,000-100,000 mt in total. The targeted market is Turkey, where prices are firm and are set to increase, and also where there is demand for material for short lead times. Particularly, one of the mills evaluates the workable level at around $800/mt CFR, while the buyers believe the reality is closer to $780/mt CFR. The FOB price level in this case is estimated at around $750-770/mt FOB. Another supplier may be aiming to offer at $750/mt CFR soon, up by $20-30/mt from the previous targets. In this case, the price equivalent for the Black Sea region is estimated at around $720/mt FOB. In the cold-rolled coil segment, one of the Russian mills is aiming to sell at $840/mt FOB, up by $10/mt over the past week.
As a result, although export prices are currently higher for mills than prices in the local market, the Russian suppliers are not rushing to increase their export volumes. “It is about the strategic share. Exports increase and decrease and Russia [in terms of domestic consumption volumes] is more stable,” a source told SteelOrbis.
$1 = RUB 75
