Producers may cut prices in December

摘要

In October, mills' domestic quotations of 57-108 mm pipes made toGOST 10704(05) have remained mostly unchanged.Production costs of welded pipes will move down in the short term inRussia. The main factors which supported domestic prices of strips suppliershave been used up this month. Currently the global market situation remainsunfavourable for Russian flats suppliers: extremely weak demand has pushedexport prices for Russian HRC down by $40-45/t, to $665-675/t FOB Black Sea.Any positive changes are unlikely to take place soon: positions of Russian HRCsuppliers are forecast to keep worsening in view of steadily low buying in thekey sales markets. As a result, FOB quotations may decrease to $640/t inNovember staying at this level in December too. Amid low inventories, overseasdemand for CIS HRC is expected to increase in January leading to a pricegrowth (3-5%).