Although pessimistic sentiments related to weaker euro to US dollar are seen in the CIS export market for semis, finished longs suppliers keep pushing their offers up. It is the first time suppliers managed not only to increase sales of rebar lately, but to put prices up thanks to higher buying activity from North African and Indian customers. On the whole, demand for the product remains rather weak. However, taking into account steady interest in wire rod in export markets (Iran, India, Latin America and North Africa) and limited supply, sellers manage to stick to the upward trend.
In particular, Metinvest International S.A., having started selling June material this week, has added $30/t to its prices compared to three-week-ago levels. The suppliers is reportedly selling wire rod at $740/t FOB Azov Sea and higher.
As expected, Belarus SW, who set too high prices for rebar last week, has been forced to trim offers a bit.
At the same time, ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih has suspended sales after it lifted prices for longs to the Middle East and North Africa by $5-10/t and to Europe (for wire rod only) – by EUR 10/t in a week. The producer plans to release new prices by mid-May. However, rebar quotations in US dollar terms to Europe have somewhat decreased on currency fluctuations, while those in euro terms have remained unchanged.
Export quotations of CIS structurals also keep growing. EvrazHolding has started offering June output from Petrovsky at prices by $25/t higher than two weeks ago. In particular, 45-100 mm equal angle, 100-160 mm and 200-300 mm UPN channel are available to Europe and the Middle East at $735-745/t FOB Black Sea.
( Source: www.metalexpert-group.com )