Russian Steel Prices Rise as Stockpiles Decline, MB Data Show

Russia’s export steel prices started to recover in January as stockpiles declined, Metal Bulletin data shows.

The price for hot rolled coil, a benchmark, increased for the first time since the end of October. It reached $625 a metric ton last week, compared with a 12-month low of $577 in December. The price peaked at $790 per a ton in February.

“The demand is healthy as steel stockpiles were low and even the European market is feeling better,” Anastasia Gracheva, a Moscow-based UBS analyst, said by phone. She expects prices to climb by as much as 10 percent in the first quarter compared with the end of 2011.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net