Business activity in the domestic rebar market in Russia has been affected negatively by severe weather conditions. As a result, the low demand due to the subdued construction sector has resulted in prices trending down in most regions of the country. However, some producers have started to increase their offers, hopeful demand will rebound shortly.
In the Central region of Russia, local rebar prices for March production have lately been set at $565/mt (RUB 50,000/mt) CPT Moscow, with some mills having sold at $543/mt (RUB 48,000/mt) CPT from stocks, sources say. As a result, in a few steps the domestic rebar prices in the region have lost $80-100/mt (RUB 7,000-9,000/mt). “This year, the weather is very frosty and there is a lot of snow even in the south. Traders were trying to get very low prices for February-March production in order to increase prices in April-May and to get good margins,” a producer told SteelOrbis.
In the Southern region, according to sources, local rebar prices, which were initially much lower than in the Central area, lost $22-34/mt (RUB 2,000-3,000/mt) around the end of February. However, this week the official offers from some mills have rebounded to $588/mt (RUB 52,000/mt) ex-works, but they have not yet succeeded in fixing them in deals.
In the export segment, according to sources, ex-Russia rebar offers are at around $630-640/mt FOB, while wire rod prices are at $715-725/mt FOB, SteelOrbis understands.
Local prices in RUB include 20 percent VAT, while prices in US dollars do not.
$1 = 73.77 RUB