EU HRC trades thin out as buyers resist stockpiling on short-term price uncertainty
“The market is very silent now,” a German service center source said. “Mills are quoting offers but customers are not willing to pay anywhere close to what mills are asking.”
Some market participants expected producers to reduce output in the near term in case demand fails to improve.
In the mean time, buyers focused on back-to-back deals and resisted building inventories anticipating prices to soften further.
While no firm offers or deals were reported for domestic HRC in the Northwest European market, tradable levels were estimated at Eur705-720/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Platts assessed the price of domestic HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur715/mt ex-works Ruhr Feb. 26.
Interest in imported HRC remained muted due to longer lead times and uncertainties about volumes that can be allocated under safeguard quotas for Q1 from “other countries.”
Offers were heard from Indian mills in the week that ended Feb. 23 at Eur670-680/mt CNF Antwerp for end-May or early June-arrival cargoes. Turkish mills made offers around Eur700/mt CIF Antwerp, including anti-dumping duties.
No buyer showed interest in these offers.
Platts assessed the price of imported HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur650/mt CIF Antwerp Feb. 26.
Turkey’s BMS starts galvanized steel wire exports to EU, receives orders from UK
Turkey’s galvanized steel wire producer BMS Birlesik Metal said in a regulatory filing Feb. 26 that it has started exporting galvanized and zinc-al coated steel wires to Europe.
The wire shipments for the European agricultural sector are expected to be around 300 mt/month and expected to affect the company’s turnover and profitability positively, the company said.
BMS also received two galvanized steel wire orders from the UK in the last two weeks worth a total of $707,000, it said without citing the tonnage.
According to the company’s regulatory filing seen by S&P Global Commodity Insights, the production for the UK orders will begin as of March and the shipments are scheduled to be completed within April.
“To meet the rise seen in galvanized steel wire orders, and to raise our market share both in the domestic and export markets, we signed an agreement at the beginning of February with Nuh Wire, based in Yalova, for the purchase of the company’s galvanized steel wire production line with a capacity of 36,000 mt/year,” BMS also said.
The company currently has 72,000 mt/year of galvanized, zinc-aluminum coated, stranded and black annealed steel wire production capacity.
Turkish mills’ long steel pricing remained under pressure from low demand, especially in export markets throughout 2023.
Although Turkish mills’ steel export volumes increased by 17% year on year in the first month of 2024, on higher demand especially from some EU countries, according to the Mediterranean Ferrous and Non Ferrous Metals Exporters’ Union data, demand has slowed down again in recent weeks.
Turkish rebar export prices continued to drop on Feb. 23 as demand remained slow, while scrap import prices to Turkey fell further.
Platts assessed Turkish exported rebar at $602.50/mt FOB Feb. 23, down $2.50/mt on the day, according to S&P Global data.
Author Cenk Can, support@platts.com | EN |
Poland’s JSW seeks new ceo after relative stability
Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW)’s supervisory board has dismissed chief executive Tomasz Cudny from his post, as well as commercial director Sebastian Bartos, Kallanish notes. Reasoning was not provided.
Supervisory board member Pawel Rostkowski has been appointed acting ceo until a permanent replacement is found. Robert Ostrowski has been appointed acting commercial director, while retaining his position as JSW economic director.
Cudny survived as JSW ceo for 2.5 years, the longest stint anyone has managed in the job since long-serving former ceo Jaroslaw Zagorowski resigned in 2015.
JSW saw external coking coal sales drop 9% on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 1.46 million tonnes, but coke sales inched up 5% to 790,000t. The miner is due to publish its full Q4 and 2023 results in March. Nine-month-through-September 2023 external coking coal sales were flat on-year at 4.8mt, with coke sales at 2.5mt, also flat on-year.
Adam Smith Poland
Italian government approaches investors for the former Ilva
The Italian government is actively looking for private investors in Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said authorities intend to avoid nationalising the troubled steelmaker, Kallanish notes. They are rumoured to be in talks with local steelmaker Arvedi but also with Metinvest and Jindal Steel subsidiary Vulcan Green Steel, informed sources say.
While Arvedi is not commenting on its potential involvement with ADI, Metinvest has stated its interest. The company is currently supplying Taranto with raw materials and sourcing slab from Taranto for its Italian facilities (see Kallanish 31 January). Almost all local steelmakers and large steel processors have also been contacted by the government about investing. In an interview with local TV show Porta a Porta, Giorgia Meloni said that several potential investors are looking at the dossier.
Last week, the Italian government placed ADI into extraordinary administration, thereby passing control of the company to government appointed commissioners, headed by Giancarlo Quaranta. Sources in the market expect the government to name two more commissioners. Quaranta is meeting with the unions, while Italy’s Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMT), Adolfo Urso, is discussing with the European Commission a grant of €320 million ($346m) to help pay for raw material and contractors.
ADI sold 2.5 million tonnes of steel in 2023 and currently has 1mt of steel in stock, including raw materials and finished products. It produced about 3mt of crude steel last year. At Taranto, ADI is producing using only blast furnace No.4, which was however idled on 21 February for maintenance for 24 hours.
Natalia Capra France
Trading quiet in European HRC market; buyers wait for prices to fall
Mills in Northern Europe continued to offer HRC at €730-760 ($790-822) per tonne ex-works for material with April lead times, sources said, adding that discounts for firm bids were still available.
“Mills in Northern Europe need volumes to fill their order books [for the second quarter], which is why they are accepting lower prices,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets.
But the lower HRC prices did not result in more-active trading, sources said.
Deals for small volumes were heard at €720 per tonne ex-works in Germany.
Sources estimated the tradable market level at about €700-730 per tonne ex-works.
“Demand [is still] slow despite the lower prices. Buyers think the bottom has not been reached yet,” a second buyer source told Fastmarkets.
According to a third buyer source, customers will try to push the price down to €700 per tonne.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €718.75 ($777.64) per tonne on Monday, down by €3.38 per tonne from €722.13 per tonne on Friday February 23.
The index was down by €6.25 per tonne week on week and by €32.50 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €715.50 per tonne on Monday, nearly unchanged from €715.00 per tonne on February 23.
The index was down by €7.83 per tonne week on week and by €29.50 per tonne month on month.
Offers to Italy of April-delivery material were heard at €740 per tonne delivered, which nets back to about €720-730 per tonne ex-works.
A fourth buyer source told Fastmarkets that trading in Italy was calm, due to high stocks and buyer expectations that prices still have further to fall.
Sources told Fastmarkets that small volumes of HRC had been traded at €710-720 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants estimated the tradable market level for April-delivery HRC at €700-730 per tonne ex-works. But the workable level for May deliveries is expected to narrow to €705-710 per tonne ex-works.
“With the policy of postponing bookings, buyers have been successfully bringing prices down,” the third buyer source said.
Sources added that import offers from Asia were available for April shipment and July arrival.
HRC from Vietnam was offered to Italy at €620 per tonne CFR, Indian HRC at €640-650 per tonne and HRC from Japan at €620-660 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Julia Bolotova, Darina Kahramanova
