During the fourth week of 2008 (January 21-27), the CIS export market saw a relative slowdown in purchase activities for all products but flats, as buyers resisted the continuous rise in prices. Meanwhile, both the Russian and Ukrainian domestic markets saw price increases for all products during the week ended January 27.
Scrap: CIS domestic scrap prices see yet another hike
The Black Sea region scrap market continued to be characterized by calm during the fourth week of 2008 as buyers resisted the rise in prices. One the other hand, CIS scrap exporters are continuing to raise their prices due to the increased cost of processing scrap. Meanwhile, demand for scrap in the region seems to have slowed down a bit, with consumers having by now accumulated enough material to enable them to press for lower prices.
In the CIS domestic markets, both in Ukraine and Russia, scrap saw a price rise during the week ended January 27. Thus, during the course of the week the Ukrainian domestic scrap price registered an increase of UAH 120/mt ($24/mt) to its upper level, while the scrap price in Russia rose by an average of Ruble 150-400/mt ($6-16/mt).
Longs: CIS rebar markets register considerable rise
In the fourth week of 2008, demand for CIS origin billets and longs products started to slow down somewhat on the back of another price increase in export offers. Although demand remained relatively high in the Middle East, Gulf regions and in Iran, buyers in these regions were reluctant to pay the asked prices which increased by $10-15/mt for billets and by $5/mt for both rebar and wire rod during the week in question. The main reasons for these increases were not only demand for CIS products but also increased production costs.
The Russian domestic market saw a considerable price increase in its longs market during the week ended January 27. Due to the still strong demand in the international longs market and also due to rumors that domestic producers will increase their prices considerably for February deliveries, Russian retail rebar and wire rod prices saw significant increases. Thus, during the week in question, rebar gained about Ruble 1,500/mt ($61/mt), depending on the region of sale, while the wire rod price increased by approximately Ruble 450/mt ($18/mt), again depending on the region of sale.
The Ukrainian domestic longs market continued to experience a price rise in the fourth week of this year. Thus, due to increased demand and the proposed price rise for domestic deliveries in February on behalf of both local producers and exporters, rebar in the Ukrainian retail market went up by UAH 200/mt ($40/mt) during the week ended January 27.
Flats: Russian domestic flats market enters revival phase
The prices of CIS origin flat products have continued to rise in the export markets. As of last week, most of the CIS producers determined their new export prices, which increased by about $30-100/mt for hot rolled and by about $40-90/mt for cold rolled. Meanwhile, market players expect the CIS flats prices to rise further at least till the beginning of the second quarter.
The Russian domestic flats market saw a rise in activity and also in prices during the week ended January 27, for the first time since the beginning of the current year. During the week in question, the HR price increased by Ruble 250/mt ($10/mt) and CR increased by Ruble 100/mt ($4/mt).
The Ukrainian domestic flats market also experienced a price rise during the fourth week. Thus, HR increased by UAH 120/mt ($24), and CR price raised by UAH 100/mt ($20/mt) in the Ukrainian retail market.