Russian and Ukrainian Steel: Things are underway, but slowly

The Russian and Ukrainian producers of flat products have achieved a small increase of prices under August contracts.

After the next decrease of quotations in June, producers of flat products in the CIS states made a long pause, slowly return to the market with the August production. This decision proved to be correct. At the end of June, quotations of Chinese sheet steel became to increase and mood of participants of other regional markets became more optimistic.

In principle, Russian and Ukrainian exporters couldn’t achieve a significant rise in prices. The growth made up around $5-10 per ton as compared with the previous month. But it should be taking into account that the price increase was achieved in not the most favorable conditions. In July, the demand for steel products in the Middle East countries decreased because of the start of Ramadan. In particular, distribution companies in the Persian Gulf, where Indian hot rolled steel at cost of about $540-545 per ton of CFR is quite affordable now, significantly reduced the purchases. As for Eastern Europe, it’s more likely that in recent years, the domestic prices decreased due to the unfavorable economic situation and the seasonal downturn.