European HRC market quiet; sentiment bearish
“There have been no deals in recent days. The more I try to push buyers, the more they run,” a trader said.
“I think we are going to have a very dark summer in steel markets,” he added.
Customers’ estimates of theoretical workable prices for HRC in Northern Europe varied within the range of €615-625 ($700-712) per tonne ex-works on Tuesday.
Sources on producers’ side reported their estimates at €630-640 per tonne ex-works earlier this week, which was considered totally unworkable for the majority of buyers.
Several trader sources said they expected prices in Northern Europe to reach around €600 per tonne by the end of June, while others believed the downtrend would persist for longer.
“The situation in Europe will deteriorate dramatically after July 1, amid the implementation of new duties in the US. I [believe] that the price [for HRC in Europe] will drop,” a source said.
In Italy, sources also reported weak demand, and no fresh bookings were heard on Tuesday.
Sources on both buyers’ and sellers’ sides reported estimates of workable prices varying within the range of €580-610 per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage.
This is when earlier assessments of workable price for decent tonnages did not go below €590 per tonne ex-works and official offers came at €620.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €596.67 per tonne on Tuesday, down by 0.35% from €598.75 on Monday June 2.
Offers of Indonesian HRC were heard within the range of €520-530 per tonne CFR in Italy.
In Northern Europe, Indonesian material was available at €550 per tonne CFR. Some unconfirmed offers of Indian HRC came at €534 per tonne CFR. And Chinese HRC was reported available around €550 per tonne CFR including anti-dumping duties.
Sources reported no interest even in imported material, citing low real demand.
Published by: Vlada Novokreshchenova
Imports spare German rebar prices
The stability of German rebar prices, despite falling scrap values, is also not being threatened much by cheaper rebar import offers, sources say. This applies to Austria to some extent, too.
German ports have gained some favour for smaller coastal vessels with loads of 5,000+ tonnes. One observer gives the example of an Algeria-origin shipment offered at €600/t ($683) cif German port. But he cautions this offer is not necessarily attractive for buyers further inland to the south.
The manager of an eastern German stockholder not too far from the coast confirms this. “They [Algerian suppliers] are offering €630/t delivered to the door,” he tells Kallanish. But the size range is limited, and apparently the offer applies to a volume of 5,000t, essentially the entire load – few buyers in these days of meagre demand would risk that tonnage.
German buyers therefore prefer domestic material, which some see at €665/t ex-works, others at up to €695/t, depending on the deal. This is composed of a base price of €400-430 plus the size extra of €265.
Relative price stability is also being seen in Austria, even from Italian suppliers. Offers from there are at base prices of €360-370 delivered, which is easily €100 over the domestic Italian prices. “There are bottlenecks with transport space,” one manager explains and expresses the impression that “they [Italian suppliers] therefore prefer to sell domestic”.
Offers from domestic and German producers in Austria are at €630-640/t delivered. Rebar in coil offers are hard to come by, with little price difference between domestic (€660 delivered) and Italian mills (€650), the manager says.
Further north, buyers are also observing a coil shortage in Germany. However, coil is still only fetching the standard premium of €20/t over bars. Various sources say they find the supply scarcity is not helping much with supporting prices, due to low demand from construction.
Christian Koehl Germany
EU imposes China tinplate definitive AD duties
The European Commission has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel plated or coated with tin – commonly known as tinplate – originating in China, Kallanish notes from the Official Journal of the European Union.
The move follows an investigation launched in May 2024 after a complaint by the European Steel Association (Eurofer), which claimed that dumped imports were causing material injury to the EU tinplate industry. Provisional duties had already been imposed on 14 January 2025. The regulation confirms and replaces these provisional measures with definitive duties.
The duties apply to tinplate imports from China regardless of whether the goods are declared as originating from China or not.
For imports produced by Baosteel Group’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co and WISCO-Nippon Steel Tinplate Co, the definitive anti-dumping duty is set at 13.1%. Imports from Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co are subject to a 46.8% duty, while other cooperating Chinese companies face a 24.6% duty. For all other Chinese exporters, a 62.3% duty applies.
These duties cover CN codes 7210 11 00, 7210 12, ex 7210 70, 7210 90 40, ex 7210 90 80, 7212 10, and ex 7212 40. The regulation requires importers to present a valid commercial invoice from the Chinese exporter to benefit from company-specific duty rates; otherwise, the general duty rate of 62.3% applies.
The amounts secured by the provisional anti-dumping duties since January 2025 are definitively collected, with any excess above the final rates released.
The regulation also establishes a framework for adding new Chinese exporters to the list of cooperating companies if they can prove they did not export the product during the investigation period, are not related to a company subject to the measures, and have either already exported or have an irrevocable contractual obligation to export a significant quantity to the EU.
The regulation coordinates with the above-quota tariff duties. Where these tariff duties exceed the anti-dumping duties, only the above-quota tariffs will be collected, and the anti-dumping duties will be suspended during that period. Conversely, if the above-quota tariff duties are lower, they will be collected alongside the difference up to the higher anti-dumping duty.
Elina Virchenko Turkey
EU terminates China seamless tube AD investigation
The European Commission has terminated the anti-dumping investigation into imports of certain seamless pipe and tube originating from China, and customs authorities were directed to cease the registration of such imports, Kallanish notes.
The investigation commenced on 17 May 2024 following a complaint lodged by the European Steel Tube Association (ESTA) on 2 April 2024.
On 27 February 2025, ESTA withdrew its complaint, and the Commission found no indications that terminating the investigation would be contrary to the Union interest.
Consequently, the Commission decided to terminate the anti-dumping investigation concerning imports of certain seamless pipes and tubes of iron or steel, including precision tubes of circular cross-section, with an external diameter not exceeding 406.4mm and a carbon equivalent value (CEV) not exceeding 0.86, originating in China.
Product is classified under CN codes ex 7304 19 10, ex 7304 19 30, ex 7304 23 00, ex 7304 29 10, ex 7304 29 30, ex 7304 31 20, ex 7304 31 80, ex 7304 39 50, ex 7304 39 82, ex 7304 39 83, ex 7304 51 89, ex 7304 59 82, and ex 7304 59 83 (TARIC codes: 7304 19 10 20, 7304 19 30 20, 7304 23 00 20, 7304 29 10 20, 7304 29 30 20, 7304 31 20 30, 7304 31 80 30, 7304 39 50 30, 7304 39 82 30, 7304 39 83 20, 7304 51 89 30, 7304 59 82 30, and 7304 59 83 20).
Elina Virchenko Turkey
ArcelorMittal’s German strip mills get new chief
Rainer Böse has been appointed as new chairman of the management of ArcelorMittal’s German strip mills, Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Kallanish hears.
Böse, 57, has held several positions in the steelmaking group. Since 2017, he headed sales at the company’s Northern Europe region as chief marketing officer. Prior to that, he was managing director of ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany. He is particularly knowledgeable on market conditions for flat products, and well-connected internationally, the group’s statement reads.
He succeeds Thomas Bünger, who headed the mills since early 2024 and became ArcelorMittal Germany chief executive only in January.
The announcement thanks Bünger “for his commitment to our company” but does not clearly state if he remains ceo or has left the company altogether.
Christian Koehl Germany