Russia-based hot rolled coil (HRC) producers have almost closed their April production sales to export destinations, with only minor volumes left to be traded. Some of them have started to evaluate sales opportunities for May rolling, while the general sentiment in the market is quite positive.
Russia’s Severstal remains lucky in that it has an opportunity to sell to Europe, where prices are firm and high and a certain lack of products is observed. According to the latest information, the company has sold around 15,000-20,000 mt of HRC for end of April-May production to the EU at $805-810/mt FOB Baltic Sea, up by around $10-15/mt over the past week. Following the mentioned sales, Severstal has decided to take a pause to evaluate the market, thinking there is some potential for a further price rise.
MMK has also taken a step back, having closed April production sales at around $740-760/mt FOB, to the Turkish market specifically. A new offer for May rolling is yet to be officially disclosed by the mill, but the price idea has been voiced at $790/mt CFR Turkey minimum, with the freight estimated at around $20/mt for now. However, MMK may start the new week with a higher level, taking into account that local prices in Turkey have increased to $820-840/mt ex-works and $10/mt higher offers have been voiced for certain clients, as SteelOrbis reported earlier. In the meantime, NLMK, according to sources, is aiming to sell at around $790/mt FOB to $805-810/mt CFR Turkey for the remaining lots of April production.
Overall, the mood in the market is positive, being mainly driven by the lack of volumes in the market, rather than by the situation in the raw materials segment. “The cold rolled and coated steel markets are hot, therefore there is good demand for HRC, which lets both buyers and sellers make good money at the end of the day,” a trader told SteelOrbis.