Russian tycoon Alexei Mordashov, the core owner of steelmaker Severstal, has suggested the government stimulate consumers to buy reinforcement steel and other products of the company at higher prices.
In a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service’s Director Igor Artemyev Mordashov said that it would be fair if consumers bought reinforcement steel at prices of before the fall on the world and Russian markets.
In April-May Russian consumers complained about growing prices and asked the government to take measures. However the price for reinforcement steel fell by 24% in May-August to below September 2011 level, while the price of scrap metal, used to produce steel, went up. Mordashov thinks it may lead to a repetition of the situation of the end of 2015, when some plants halted production.
This initiative is also an answer to requests of construction companies and car producers to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which launched a case against reinforcing bars producers, including Severstal, due to a 34-103% growth of prices in January-April. The case was postponed to early November. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)