Bloomberg quoted Metal Bulletin data shows that Russia export steel prices started to recover in January as stockpiles declined.

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

Ms Anastasia Gracheva a Moscow based UBS analyst said “The demand is healthy as steel stockpiles were low and even the European market is feeling better.”

She expects prices to climb by as much as 10% in the first quarter compared with the end of 2011.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)