RUSSIA FLAT STEEL: Strong export market supports continued domestic uptrend

Flat steel suppliers to Russia's Central Federal District around Moscow were targeting higher prices for May deliveries because of the strong export market but faced stiff resistance from buyers, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday April 12.

Firm offers were still scarce because producers were taking their time to better estimate the market situation, but some had already started to test buyers with higher offers, Fastmarkets learned.
Hot-rolled sheet
HR sheet offers for May from Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) were heard at 83,000 roubles ($1,071) per tonne, while several sources said that Severstal had already indicated that its preliminary offer price for May HR sheet would be about 86,000 roubles per tonne cpt.
These offers were not included in the assessment because they were far higher than the workable level estimated by buyers at 78,000-80,000 roubles per tonne.

The official April domestic offer price for HR sheet from local producer Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK)...

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