Russia could not do without Ukrainian wheels
The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) on July 23 suspended the anti-dumping duty on solid-rolled steel wheels from Ukraine imported into the customs territory of the EAEU.
The duty was introduced in 2018 at the initiative of the largest wheel manufacturers in the Russian Federation - OMK and Evraz, which were also supported by the Kazakhstani Prommashkomplekt. According to buyers of railway wheels, this was one of the reasons for the rise in prices for them.
Now the market predicts an increase in the supply of Ukrainian wheels, but a sharp decline in prices is not expected.
“The measure is being introduced as part of a re-investigation launched by the EEC Internal Market Protection Department on June 13 this year. The decision comes into force 30 days after publication and is valid until June 1, 2020 inclusive, "- said in a message on the EEC website.
In the opinion of Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline-Analytics, the decision of the commission may stimulate Interpipe to increase supplies to the Russian market in the second half of 2019, and will also become one of the factors in reducing prices for wheels. Now they amount to about 75 thousand rubles. for deliveries from China and about 95 thousand rubles. for OMK supplies to the free market when sold at auctions.
In his opinion, it will not be possible to eliminate the wheel deficit in 2019, since supplies from China have just begun, supplies from Kazakhstan are limited, and Russian manufacturers mostly work under long-term contracts and cannot increase supplies to the free market.