Business activity in Russia’s domestic flat steel market has been gradually recovering with trade becoming livelier every day, according to local mills. One reason is the approaching season for flat steel products in the country, coupled with better weather conditions. In addition, taking into account booming exports and steadily rising prices, local buyers have decided to increase their restocking activity, fearing that the mills may be eager to sell larger allocations abroad.
In terms of prices for the local market, Russian mills have been adopting a slow approach and have not been rushing so much to increase them. Some producers have chosen to keep offers relatively stable at RUB 69,000/mt CPT for hot rolled sheet, which has led to a $33/mt drop since mid-March to $758/mt CPT due to the weaker exchange rate. Others have preferred to increase their offers by RUB 3,000-4,000/mt, thus compensating for currency fluctuations. A similar situation has been seen in the segment of cold rolled sheets.
However, Russian mills are optimistic regarding local sales and prices for May production. Some of the sources expect the prices in question to hit RUB 77,000/mt for HRS. “Today, the buyers are ready to book additional tonnages, which is a good sign for the market,” a market player told SteelOrbis.
Local flats offers for April-May production, CPT
|
HR sheets |
RUB/mt |
$/mt |
|
NLMK |
69,000 |
758 |
|
MMK |
73,000 |
801 |
|
Severstal |
74,000 |
812 |
|
CR sheets |
|
|
|
NLMK |
87,500 |
961 |
|
MMK |
85,000 |
933 |
|
Severstal |
90,000 |
988 |
Local prices in RUB include 20 percent VAT, while prices in US dollars do not.
$1 = RUB 75.9