Prices for the main types of metal products in the domestic market must be reduced, the maximum markup should not exceed 20-25%, said Viktor Evtukhov, deputy head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. He put forward such demands at a meeting with market participants on March 10, a video of which TASS has.
“What I want to convey to you, to virtually everyone – from manufacturers to processors: the prices that are currently set for the main types of metal products do not suit us,” Yevtukhov said.
The deputy head of the department asked to recalculate the cost of production and come out “with a consolidated proposal.” It is necessary to renegotiate contracts with enterprises at new agreed prices, Yevtukhov noted. Companies will also have to provide the agency with lists of their counterparties who are not end users.
For the next six months, metallurgists “will have to work on low profitability,” warned the Ministry of Industry and Trade. If the participants refuse to limit the margin, the prices for metallurgical products will be set by the government, Yevtukhov said.
“Today, if we do not agree before, an amendment has been prepared, where the government will be given the right to set prices for the products of metal producers and for the products of building materials manufacturers. Then we will prescribe prices at the government level, you will trade at these prices, ”said the deputy head of the department.
The shortage of goods on the domestic market can be avoided, there are restrictions on exports, Yevtukhov added, expressing the hope that the government would not have to take such a step.
In February, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov spoke of the government’s plans to work on the introduction of a “dividend tax” in the country, designed to encourage companies to invest more in the economy than pay shareholders.
A sharp rise in metal prices began in the fourth quarter of 2020 in the world, and then in Russia, amid the gradual lifting of restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic and an avalanche-like growth in demand. Super profits of metallurgical holdings due to the current price rally, including price increases in Russia, were previously estimated by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov at 100 billion rubles. only for 2020