The Russian "Kommersant" reported on December 28 that recently, the Russian Federation of Housing Builders complained to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Husnulin that the price of metal in Russia has soared and the price of steel bars has risen by 40% within a month.
According to the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Husnullin, the Anti-Monopoly Agency of the Russian Federation sent a letter to the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade a few days ago to propose a tariff rate of 13% and no less than US$73 per ton on steel billet exports, and a 12% tax rate per ton on steel bar exports Tariffs of no less than US$78 and the tax period are 6 months.
Sources said that as early as when studying export tariffs on steel scraps, relevant Russian authorities have been concerned about the increase in the price of steel products in the Russian market.
The Russian Anti-Monopoly Agency pointed out that the surge in steel exports and the increase in the cost of scrap have led to an increase in the price of steel in the Russian market. According to data from the Russian Steel Pipe Industry Development Foundation, in the past month, the Black Sea FOB price of steel bars has risen from US$460/ton to US$580/ton; since January, the average scrap price in the Russian market has surged by 35%.
Related measures by the Russian government have caused controversy. Experts in the Russian metallurgical industry believe that some steel price increases are temporary, and the Russian metallurgical industry has not violated the anti-monopoly law or adopted non-market pricing.
As the regulatory agency responsible for fair market competition, the Russian Anti-Monopoly Agency proposes that taxation will distort market competition, and the adoption of taxation measures is not within its scope of authority, and the Ministry of Economic Development should be responsible.
The Russian credit rating agency ACRA expert Hudalov believes that the Russian Anti-Monopoly Agency's proposal will not cause the price of products on the Russian domestic market to fall. Hu pointed out that after the price adjustment in the international steel market in the past 3-4 months, the prices of related products in Russia will fall on their own.
The Russian government should temporarily open the market to Ukrainian steel products, and at the same time reduce the transportation costs of steel rolled products, thereby reducing the prices of related domestic products. In addition, the government can also use the Russian national reserves to put steel into the market, and replenish the stock after the price of related products stabilizes.