European HRC prices remain steady in quiet market
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €550.29 ($594.04) on Monday, up by just €0.29 per tonne from €550.00 per tonne on Friday October 25.
The index was down by €2.84 per tonne week on week, but up by €5.08 per tonne month on month.
Mills in Northern Europe were heard offering November/December-delivery HRC at €550-570 per tonne ex-works.
Higher prices were on offer for the first quarter of 2025, at €580-600 per tonne ex-works, sources said.
But buyer estimates for the workable level for November/December-delivery came in at €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
And some deals were reported at €550 per tonne ex-works.
Producer hopes for a stronger price rebound seem to have been postponed, however, at least until the first, or even second, quarter of next year, Fastmarkets understands.
The main factors expected to support prices were the uncompetitive import offers and potential production cuts across Europe, but there has been no official information about any moves in this direction, sources told Fastmarkets.
There were some rumors one integrated mill in Europe planned to increase its HRC offer prices in November, but that could not be confirmed.
“The main problem of the steel sector in Europe is the very low demand or the lack of demand,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets.
And a second buyer said the market remains quiet.
“I doubt that many buyers would like to book HRC even at €550 per tonne ex-works. Some volumes were already traded when prices were lower – at €520-530 per tonne ex-works,” the second buyer source said.
The source told Fastmarkets that, while attempts by producers to push up prices in October were not so successful, they did at least stop prices falling any further and Europe’s automotive sector was still struggling, with some companies not booking the expected volumes of HRC.
“This is the reason why some mills are still offering November-delivery coil,” the second buyer source added.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy at €547.00 per tonne on Monday, up by €0.75 per tonne from €546.25 per tonne on Friday.
The Italian index was down by €4.25 per tonne week on week, but up by €5.33 per tonne month on month.
Trading in Italy was quiet, sources said, with suppliers pushing to achieve their offer prices without granting significant discounts.
Local mills were offering December/January-delivery HRC at €570-580 per tonne delivered (€560-570 per tonne ex-works), Fastmarkets understands.
And sources said that November-delivery material was also still available.
Buyer estimates for the tradable market level came in at €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
Import offers of HRC, meanwhile, remained uncompetitive and there were no fresh deals, sources told Fastmarkets.
November-shipment HRC from Turkey was on offer at €580-590 per tonne CFR Italy, including the anti-dumping duty, while Asian material was on offer at €550-570 per tonne CFR, Fastmarkets understands.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
Heine + Beisswenger opens new site near Bremen
German steel distribution group Heine + Beisswenger has opened a new base in Lemwerder near Bremen, northern Germany, Kallanish learns from the company.
It thereby aims to win new customers in the northern German industries of shipbuilding, hydraulics, fittings, and energy. This includes makers of wind power plants, pumps, or agricultural machinery.
For fittings, the location is offering high-wear steels such as P250GH+N, A105+N and TSTE355, the company notes. For typical products for the energy industry, like drills, pipes and valve housings, it offers P250GH+N, SA105 and corrosion resistant steels 1.4462, 1.4571 und 1.4404. For agricultural machinery, it is banking on S235 und S355 grades. For cranes and hydraulics, its portfolio covers creep resistant steel with extraordinary longevity, H+B says.
The group is headquartered in Fellbach, southwestern Germany, and operates seven more sites, most of them in the south, but also in North Rhine-Westphalia, near Berlin, and now near Bremen. It mostly handles long products and is mainly active in special bar qualities, with an annual throughput of 250,000 tonnes.
It recently carried out some consolidation on its home turf in the southwest by closing a site in Pforzheim. Customers in the region will now be served from Fellbach and Trossingen, where it recently started operating a new €7 million ($7.7m) logistics centre (see Kallanish 17 July).
Christian Koehl Germany
Turkey’s coated, rod EU TRQ usage becomes critical
Turkey-origin organic coated sheet, wire rod and two tube and pipe categories have rapidly increased EU tariff-rate quota (TRQ) utilisation, Kallanish notes from the EU customs portal.
The organic coated sheet category is nearing full quota utilisation, with 1,280 tonnes remaining out of a 15,889t quota for Turkey-origin imports. This leaves 6% of the total quota still available.
For wire rod, 6,052t remain available out of the 119,011t quota, leaving 5% of Turkey’s TRQ still open.
Hollow sections have completely exhausted their quota, while large welded tube and other welded pipe have just 2% and 1% of their TRQs open, respectively.
The largest category, hot-rolled sheet and strip, have seen moderate usage, with 58% of the 475,174t quota still open, leaving a balance of 279,147t.
Product | Quota 01.10- 31.12.2024 | Imported | Balance | Awaiting allocation | Remaining | Available TRQ % |
HR sheets, strips | 475,174 | 196,026 | 279,147 | 3,628 | 275,519 | 58 |
Organic coated sheets | 15,889 | 14,609 | 1,280 | 281 | 999 | 6 |
Stainless CR sheets, strips | 21,057 | 8,234 | 12,823 | 241 | 12,582 | 60 |
Merchant bars, light sections | 107,140 | 18,403 | 88,738 | 520 | 88,218 | 82 |
Rebar | 95,436 | 48,790 | 46,646 | 0 | 46,646 | 49 |
Wire rod | 119,011 | 112,959 | 6,052 | 0 | 6,052 | 5 |
Railway material | 1,574 | 436 | 1,137 | 0 | 1,137 | 72 |
Gas pipes | 49,976 | 32,232 | 17,744 | 955 | 16,788 | 34 |
Hollow sections | 99,462 | 99,462 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Large welded tubes | 15,096 | 14,732 | 364 | 3 | 361 | 2 |
Other welded pipes | 38,497 | 38,134 | 364 | 3 | 361 | 1 |
Wire | 51,946 | 15,288 | 36,658 | 626 | 36,032 | 69 |
Source: EU TARIC, as of 25 October. Calculated by Kallanish
Elina Virchenko UAE
British Steel starts carbon capture trial
British Steel is trialling new carbon capture technology at its plant in Scunthorpe in a bid to further reduce emissions, Kallanish learns.
The company notes that while electrification of the steelmaking process will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 75%, it is exploring routes for additional reductions. This includes the development of technologies for capturing CO2 generated by other parts of its manufacturing operations.
As part of this, a mobile carbon capture pilot plant has been installed at its Central Power Station in Scunthorpe. The plant has been developed by the University of Sheffield and will be used to extract carbon from the power station’s boiler flue.
Andy Trowsdale, British Steel’s head of research and development, says: “This project is all about testing the capabilities of the technology. If it works for us, and others, it could be scaled-up and play an important role in carbon capture, utilisation and storage.”
“The trial, which has been approved by the Environment Agency, will demonstrate the technology’s potential,” he adds.
The project by University of Sheffield aims to enable the use of waste gases from manufacturing industries to generate an alternative source of carbon for consumer products.
The technology being used in the carbon capture system does not use environmentally hazardous chemicals and is much cheaper and smaller than other carbon capture technologies. The CO2 captured at British Steel will be bottled in gas cylinders, transported to the University of Sheffield and converted into synthetic transport fuels.
Carrie Bone UK
Volkswagen mulls at least three German plant closures
German automaker Volkswagen (VW) is planning to close at least three plants in Germany as part of cost-cutting measures, according to Volkswagen works council chief Daniela Cavallo.
Volkswagen said last month it was considering closing factories in Germany amid fierce competition and falling electric vehicle (EV) sales – a move severely criticised by labour unions. As such, the company has been negotiating with unions for weeks for a new labour agreement.
On Monday, Cavallo told employees at a meeting at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters that the automaker plans to cut “tens of thousands” of jobs and slash pay by 10%. She added that all VW plants in Germany will be affected, with the management planning cuts at other sites.
“The board is also planning to downsize all remaining plants in Germany,” Cavallo said, according to a statement seen by Kallanish. “In concrete terms, this means taking out even more products, volumes, shifts and entire assembly lines far beyond to what we have already done.”
She emphasised: “All German VW plants are affected by this. None of them are safe!”
The works council head, however, did not specify which plants would be shut. The company currently has ten plants in Germany, employing a total of 120,000 workers.
In a statement on Monday, Volkswagen reiterated the “urgent need for comprehensive restructuring measures” to make the company “sustainably competitive”.
“We have to get to the root of the problems: we are not productive enough at our German sites and our factory costs are currently 25% to 50% above target,” explains Volkswagen Passenger Cars chief executive Thomas Schäfer. As a result, some of the company’s German plants are twice as expensive as its competitors, particularly due to high labour costs.
“In addition, we at Volkswagen are still handling many tasks internally that our competitors have already outsourced to reduce costs,” Schäfer adds. “This means that we cannot continue as before. We have to promptly find a joint and viable solution for the future of our company.”
Cavallo also called on the German government to come up with a “master plan” to support the German industry. “They [politicians] need to wake up,” she added. “It is not enough just to say that they stand by the VW workforce. We need action! We need a comprehensive plan from politicians on how to finally get BEV [battery electric vehicle] mobility flying.”
While German economy minister and vice-chancellor Robert Habeck said last month the government was mulling ways to support the struggling carmaker, he noted that “a large part of the tasks have to be dealt with by Volkswagen itself”.
European carmakers have been struggling amid high production costs, severe competition, and stagnating EV demand in major EV markets. Last month, Volkswagen lowered its 2024 outlook, citing a “challenging market environment and developments that have fallen short of original expectations.” If the plant closures go ahead, it would mark a first in Volkswagen’s 87-year history.
Volkswagen’s first round of negotiations with unions on 25 September ended after three hours. A second round of negotiations is set to take place on Wednesday. The period to refrain from industrial action will end on 30 November.
Reethu Ravi UK
EU HRC prices largely stable despite higher mill offers
Domestic European hot-rolled coil prices remained largely stable Oct. 28, as weak demand from end-users put downward pressure on prices.
Many market participants were left with “mixed feelings” in the aftermath of the EuroBlech steel fair in Hannover last week, a Germany based mill source said. Despite higher offer levels from European mills, market restocking requirements remained low, contributing to weak demand.
The source explained that “the Steel industry needs to increase prices as it is currently in a dangerous zone.”
An Italy based service center source supported this view, highlighting bearish sentiment in the domestic Italian market. According to sources, market activity seems to be slowing down slightly.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur560/mt ex-works Ruhr Oct. 28, down Eur15 on the day.
Deals were reported at Eur560/mt ex-works Ruhr, and delivered Germany. Offers were reported at Eur580-640/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Platts assessed domestic HRC in Southern Europe at Eur550/mt ex-works Italy, stable on the day.
The spread between import and domestic European prices continued to narrow. A Germany based service center source said that some import prices are more expensive than domestic European mill prices.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur515/mt CIF Antwerp, stable on the day.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Southern Europe at Eur535/mt CIF Italy, stable on the day.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.