One of the key Russia-based hot-rolled coil (HRC) exporters Severstal has already started offering January production this week and has announced fresh offers. The allocation is expected to be limited due to the still active domestic flats market in Russia, but also because of the scheduled maintenance at certain facilities.
The current offer level from Severstal is at $910-950/mt FOB Baltic Sea for January production of big coils, SteelOrbis has learned. The company’s latest sales for small coils were closed at $900-930/mt FOB and at $960-1,000/mt FOB for big coils, all for December production. For the coming round of sales, Severstal plans to sell all its volumes to the northern part of the EU, citing limited allocation. “There is some additional demand in the local market due to the maintenance at NLMK,” a source said.
Severstal plans to sell around 70,000-80,000 mt of HRC for export for January production, versus around 100,000 mt sold for the previous month’s rolling. Along with the still sufficient domestic demand, the scheduled maintenance is another reason for the export allocation to decrease. According to sources, the company will handle repairs at the reheating furnaces which will take around a year.