The Russian state railway company, Russian Railways, has lately announced a reduction in transportation tariffs for semi-finished steel products, but only for several destinations. The decision is aimed at balancing out the utilization of local railroads in Russia.
In particular, Russian Railways company has announced the imposition of a 11.1 percent discount for export-destined cargoes, specifically for steel billet and slabs. The measure involves the route from Novolipetsk to Tuapse station and will be applied to volumes exceeding 815,000 mt in the period from September 1 until the end of the year.
Russian steel producers, however, are not so excited regarding the initiative, claiming it will not change much in the market. “It is a pseudo discount. They first increased the tariffs [in the second quarter of 2022] and then provided discounts to the earlier valid levels,” a Russian producer told SteelOrbis.