Severstal, one of the main Russian hot-rolled coil (HRC) exporters, has started selling its December production. The supplier has increased its prices compared to mid-October and is mainly aiming to sell to the EU, specifically to northern EU countries.
Currently, Severstal is offering big coils at $980-1,000/mt FOB and small coils at $910-950/mt FOB, up by at least $40/mt over the past week for the southern EU and by $10-30/mt for the northern EU. The latest deals were closed for big coils within the mentioned range to buyers in northern Europe, while the supplier plans to continue concentrating on the same destination. Overall, it plans to have around 100,000 mt of HRC for export in December, versus around 130,000 mt, sold for November rolling. The key reason for the limited allocation is the positive domestic market situation in Russia.
According to sources, domestic demand for flats in Russia has been booming, letting mills increase prices significantly. Current prices for hot-rolled sheet are at $856-880/mt (RUB 74,000-76,000/mt) CPT, up by at least $43/mt (RUB 4,000/mt) over the past two weeks, SteelOrbis has learned. “The situation improved not only in the HR merchant market, but we have also increased own HRS usage for upstream products,” one of the mills said.