Posted on 19 Feb 2024
participants inform Kallanish.
In the presence of sanctions and export duty, Russian steelmakers continued to mainly serve the domestic and CIS markets. The risks associated with primary and secondary sanctions remain the main factor limiting interest in Russian-origin steel from foreign buyers.
Offers of flat steel from Russia were also limited due to reports of maintenance activities during the low season in winter.
However, with the ongoing disruption in the Red Sea, Russian flat steel exporters from the Baltic and Black Sea regions have an advantage over their Asian counterparts. They face fewer potential shipment delays due to pirate and Houthi attacks on shipping.
Russian-origin HRC was heard available at $580/t fob Baltic Sea and $590-595/t Black Sea.
The most recent deals were heard at $605-610/t cfr in Turkey and around $615/t cfr a week earlier in the Egyptian market.
One producer voiced a price of $600/t fob Baltic Sea on offer to Egypt, marking an increase of $20/t compared to the previous week. However, the producer's unwillingness to sell was cited, possibly influenced by maintenance.
As a result, Russia-origin HRC was assessed at $580-595/t fob Black Sea, unchanged from a week earlier.
The slab export market was on hold, as participants await China's return to the market after the Lunar New Year holidays, with quotes unchanged on-week at $540-570/t fob Black Sea.
The exchange rate was RUB 92.2384 per dollar, compared to RUB 90.98/$1 a week ago. This indicates an export duty of 5.5%, which is calculated based on the 30 days prior to the date of export.
Thanks to the currency movement, exporters could have an additional $9/t gain, which is however offset by export duties, linked to the exchange rate, at roughly $30/t.
In the domestic market hot rolled sheet (HR sheet) 4mm is quoted at RUB 67,500-68,500/t cpt, including 20% VAT, or $609-618/t without VAT.
HR sheet typically commands a premium of $25-30/t compared to HRC, due to the additional cost associated with coil cut-to-length processing. This means the comparative HRC price without processing into sheet would be the equivalent of $570-580/t cpt without VAT.
Source:Kallanish
