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Shares of iron and steel companies slightly fall after authorities’ decision on taxes

By the close of trading, TMK shares dropped 3.02%, Mechel - 2.42%

MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. Shares of large iron and steel companies - TMK, Mechel, Norilsk Nickel, MMK, as well as Raspadskaya (the largest producer of coking coal in Russia) declined in the course of trading on the Moscow Exchange after the government and business agreed to increase mineral extraction taxes for the industry from 2022.

By the close of trading, TMK shares dropped 3.02%, Mechel - 2.42%, Norilsk Nickel - 0.59%, Raspadskaya - 1.72%, MMK - 2.2%.

At a meeting on Thursday, the authorities and companies agreed on new tax conditions for the mining sector. Mineral extraction tax rates will be raised.

Earlier, the Finance Ministry proposed, in particular, to introduce an excise rate on liquid steel at the level of 3% of the average export price for steel slabs in the seaports of Russia located in the Southern Federal District for a calendar month. It was proposed to set the MET rate for iron ore at 5.5% and tie it to the price of ore on world markets. For coking coal, it was proposed to set the tax rate at 1.5% and also tie it to the price of raw materials.

However, according to the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, at the meeting the authorities and companies managed to agree on the following rates: MET for ore - 4.8%, excise tax for liquid steel - 2.7%. A compromise was reached on mineral fertilizers, he added, but did not specify the formula. At the same time, according to TASS sources, the mineral extraction tax for phosphates will double.

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