Can you please describe the current activities of Safin? In which markets is Safin most active?

SAFIN GmbH was established in Austria in 1993. Since its foundation the company has been undergoing dynamic development, strengthening its market position, finding new markets year by year, enlarging its field of operations and attracting new partners and customers. We are working with the main steel markets such as the Midde East (including India), Europe, the Far East and Africa. The range of iron and steel products offered by SAFIN is wide, including raw materials, billets, slabs, hot rolled and cold rolled steel products, coated products, pipes, tubes, etc.

What is your general sentiment regarding the tendency of the markets today, after come through two depressed quarters? How do you see steel markets handling such difficult conditions?

The importing thing during such times is to survive.  There will be some more tough months because there are too many offers in the overall market, but not so much demand.

What is the current situation as regards longs, semis, flats and raw materials in the CIS nowadays?

The CIS markets do not seem well in our view, as we are working with the two biggest markets Ukraine and Russia, and Ukraine is not in a good condition, while Russia is also depressed, though slightly more healthy compared to Ukraine. There are a lot of producers in there; however, steel consumption is very low. In Russia, the government announced strong financial support and certain guarantees for the steel industry in the last year. However, it seems no one has received these guarantees. So basically, there is no support for the industry.

What is your short and medium term expectation regarding the steel markets in the CIS and globally? 

My short term view is not positive. Regarding the medium term, I can say that the recovery of the steel market in the CIS depends on other markets; if the other markets are depressed, then the CIS will also be depressed.

 In your view, what will be the situation as regards for the rest of the year?

In fact, demand exists. Although low it does exist. At the IREPAS meeting we heard reports concerning longs demand coming from Dubai for example. It can be said that there is demand and consumption in the market, but it should be much higher, the current consumption figures are not enough.

As an international trading house, what have been your main measures during this weak period of global demand or during these troubled times in general?

We do distribution and we do back-to-back trading. We now concentrate on more secure back-to-back trading and are trying to deploy our stocks slowly. We are also managing our cash flows and covering our loans on a secured basis. We are not taking positions for security purposes.

This is your first participation at an IREPAS meeting. What is your impression and what kind of a role do you think IREPAS should undertake in the future?

It is very important to draw up some summaries and analyses at the end of the day. It is also good to see the producers and traders sessions here. Maybe it would be better if the producers and traders made their analyses and summaries of the markets together in the future.