Russian producers of hot-rolled (HR) and cold-rolled (CR) steel sheet have increased their offer prices for May-rolled products to keep domestic market profitability high while the rouble is weak.
Normally, Russian steelmakers export around 35% of their steel products output, according to Metal Bulletin estimates. But in the first quarter of this year, Severstal increased the export share of its total sales to a record 48%.And Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) sold 38% to external markets, while 62% was sold in its domestic markets. These included Russia, Europe and the United States, in each of which it has production assets.These two producers are the key flat steel suppliers to the central Russia region around Moscow.Metal Bulletin's weekly assessment of the price for Russia-origin 4mm...