Mills’ prices to increase in March

摘要

CR flats prices remained stable in Russia in January. Producers main-tained prices to traders, but amid VAT increase their base prices actuallydecreased by the amount the tax added.Even though end-user activity dwindled in January, inventories were notbloated in general. Specifically, trading companies destocked late lastyear thanks to an upturn in demand driven by expectations of higherprices due to the rise in VAT rate. Traders stepped up purchases frommills amid balanced demand and supply as well as expectations of priceincreases in the coming months. In this context, apparent consumptionmay rise in February, albeit moderately, as producers set quotas onvolumes, citing high export order intake. In March-April, shipments ofCR steel for further coating will go up as demand from the constructionindustry revives. Rising consumption will be supporting Russian produc-ers’ pricing. However, there are no signs of a drastic increase in demandthis year, taking into account the economic situation in Russia. MetalExpert believes consumption will rise solely thanks to a seasonal factor.