Mills to seek to reduce buying prices in February-April

摘要

Despite the attempts of Russian mills to maintain high domestic prices for longs of February production, the quotes are very likely to be revised at the end of the month. While expecting this, mills will try to achieve lower scrap prices, as the margin dropped significantly taking into account a revision of rebar quotes in January. Domestic prices for finished steel are expected to stabilize in April amid a seasonal pickup in buying activity.Export quotes for square billet are expected to decrease in February-March, with a stabilization to follow in April. In the situation export-oriented mills will seek for lower scrap quotes.