Finished steel prices in Russia will be reliant on moves in the global market and on how well the rouble holds up against the US dollar in 2018, Yuriy Tsybulko vice-president at Russia's biggest trading company, Metallservice, told Metal Bulletin.
"The Russian [steel] market directly depends on the global market, which is why our domestic market will be [affected] by the situation in China, where steel-consuming sectors are expected to stagnate," Tsybulko said.He said that could trigger price reductions in the Russian steel market in 2018. Russia is the ninth-largest steel-consuming country in the world, according to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) and Metallservice is Russia's biggest trading company.Metal Bulletin's average price assessment for Russian 4mm hot-rolled sheet in 2017 was 38,700 roubles per tonne cpt Moscow, including VAT - an almost 16% increase from the average price assessment in 2016. "Another factor that [could have an effect...