Spring always comes. Russian long products market: April 14-21

The weather this spring is simply “wonderful”! Then early warmth, then cold, then summer heat! Now we expect cold weather again. Nevertheless, seasonal growth in the construction industry has occurred. Although in absolute values it looks more modest than in the previous two years, the intensification of consumer demand allows metal trading companies to raise prices, trying to bring them to the level of primary market quotations or slightly higher.

Metallurgical companies, for their part, maintain stability on the market by limiting supply volumes. In the first half of April, this even led to local shortages in some places. Scrap metal has gained a bit in the last couple of weeks, but may fall again, as companies do not yet feel a great need for additional purchases of raw materials.

At the same time, the situation remains difficult and is unlikely to improve in the near future. Visible demand for steel products for construction purposes, though spring-like, is still sluggish. After some flurry of activity at the end of April, there will be a prolonged May pause. The ruble has recently strengthened, while dollar prices on foreign markets are falling. Some companies increased supplies to Central Asian countries in the first quarter, but consumption of imported products there is relatively small.

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