Global steel prices will grow in 2014, despite slight fall in cost - Ukrpromzovnishekspertyza
Kyiv, December 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The world prices for flat and long rolled metal in 2014 are expected to increase by about 3-6% compared to 2013, despite a 1.5% reduction in their cost due to the fall in prices of raw materials (2% for scrap metal, 5% for contracted iron ore, 10% - on the spot market of iron ore) with the growth of coal cost being 3-4%.
Experts from Ukrpromzovnishekspertyza, including its director, Volodymyr Vlasiuk, the head of the analytics department, Oleksandr Krainikov, the deputy head of the analytics department, Pavlo Perkonos and the head of the marketing department, Yuriy Dobrovolsky, said this at a press conference entitled"The Market Balance and Steel Prices in 2014" held at Interfax-Ukraine on December 13.
According to the experts' estimates, in 2013 the cost of Ukrainian steel products continued to decline. Thus, the price of slab fell to $478 per tonne ($519 in 2012), rolled goods - to $538 per tonne ($564 in 2012), work pieces - to $514 per tonne ($560 in 2012), and fittings - to $578 per tonne ($617 in 2012). All prices are indicated under the terms of FOB Black Sea.
The main factor for the downward movement of quotations was a slowdown in the growth of the global steel consumption to 2.5%. At the same time, on one of the key markets for Ukrainian exporters – the EU – the rates of steel consumption were even negative (a 3.5% decline). In addition, quotations were significantly pressed by the world's excess capacity (2.1 billion tonnes with the smelting being 1.6 billion tonnes in 2013).