CIS HRC offer prices outstrip buyers’ expectations

CIS / Flat Products

Price rush in the HRC segment continues – CIS mills targeted much higher export prices this week amid limited availability of the material as well as the bullish campaign in the Turkish flat steel segment. Strong raw materials prices supported the sellers too. Despite skyrocketing offers, higher contract prices were achieved only in sporadic sales.

The latest HRC offers from Russia were standing at $460/t FOB Black Sea with some deals to Turkey done at this level for February shipment recently. Thus, contract prices went up by $55/t compared to mid-November deals. MMK is out of the market due to planned maintenance in February and spring. HRC from Severstal, which is focused on Europe, is also available at $460/t FOB Baltic Sea with occasional contracts closed at this level. last week, the supplier closed deals at

$415-430/t FOB.

Metinvest International S.A. targets at least $30/t increase in prices, Metal expert understands. According to some sources, Ukrainian HRC could be indicatively priced at $435-445/t FOB, but the supplier has not disclosed firm offers and deals at the time of publication. A week ago, contracts were closed at $405/t   FOB.

Metal expert assesses HRC prices from the CIS at $435-460/t FOB depending on the supplier, up $45/t over a week on   average.