Rebar producers in Russia remain focused on dealing with domestic buyers and are largely ignoring exports, taking into account the still valid 15 percent (or minimum $115/mt) export duty. Moreover, the mills have no complaints regarding the level of the domestic demand despite the summer period.
The decent demand for rebar seen in the local market in Russia has allowed the producers to keep their prices relatively stable over the past two weeks. In the southern part of the country, the mills are offering $738/mt (RUB 65,000/mt) ex-works with minor discounts also being possible. In northern Russia, producers are mainly offering at $794/mt (RUB 70,000/mt) CPT. Local offers are for August production and the suppliers are taking their time to announce for September. “Rebar is doing better than other products. There was no boom in spring, and, as a result, no one has excessive stocks now, so basically we see the normal selling-restocking process,” a supplier told SteelOrbis.
As regards exports, the workable rebar price is considered by the market as being hardly above $700/mt FOB, and so Russian mills are not selling for export, preferring more profitable domestic sales. Some sellers, however, may be targeting to sell at $790-800/mt FOB or maybe even below.
Local prices in RUB include 20 percent VAT.
$1 = RUB 73.44