Liberty Galati faces technical setback days after relighting BF No5
Operations at rolling mills were scheduled to commence next week using feedstock that has already been produced.
On June 12, BF No5 was stopped due to a technical failure, just days after it was restarted following more than a year of downtime, multiple source told Fastmarkets.
The accident overnight June 12 involved a detached “salamander” – a solid accumulation of molten iron and slag – that broke free and blocked the furnace’s drain outlets. This forced an emergency shutdown, sources familiar with the matter said.
They added that production could resume after the blockage was cleared if no further damage were found.
Liberty did not comment on the nature of the accident, noting out that its plan was to resume steel production at Galati as planned.
“The blast furnace is in the process of increasing and stabilizing production,” Liberty’s spokesperson told Fastmarkets on June 13. “During this phase, technical adjustments are necessary, and our team is focused on managing safely a technical issue caused by the rapid cooling of the liquids, which will be resolved soon.
“With raw materials in stock and a solid supply chain, Liberty Galați continues to produce high-quality steel and will start deliveries to customers,” the spokesperson added.
Despite the accident, plans to resume rolling mill operations seemed to be unaffected, and volumes of semi-finished steel products have already been accumulated.
“Liberty Galați successfully started its production operations last week, including the blast furnace, sinter plant and steel shop, and it has already produced more than 15,000 tonnes of slab for rolling, to commence next week,” the spokesperson said.
The company restarted BF No5 on June 4 [LINK]. The equipment was idled in May 2024 amid difficult market conditions.
The Galati steelworks, islocated on the west bank of the River Danube, in southeastern Romania. It has capacity for 3.5 million tonnes per year of hot-rolled coil, 1 million tpy of cold-rolled coil, 1.2 million tpy of steel plate and 350,000 tpy of hot-dipped galvanized coil, according to Fastmarkets’ information.
The company has five BFs with combined capacity for more than 6 million tpy of pig iron, but at present only the 2 million-tpy BF No5 is in operation.
European HRC prices slide in recent transactions
In Northern Europe, HRC with July lead times was heard offered by integrated mills at €610-630 ($705-728) per tonne ex-works or delivered.
Italy-origin coil was offered to Germany at €620 per tonne delivered, with transactions for bigger lots reported during the week at €600 per tonne delivered.
Buyer estimations of tradable prices were heard at €570-600 per tonne ex-works on Friday.
Some bids were reported at even lower levels of €540-550 per tonne ex-works, but no confirmed trading at these levels has been reported so far.
“There is a lot of speculation, as always in the falling market,” one mill source told Fastmarkets. “Prices [for HRC] are not below €600 per tonne delivered now.”
Sources reported better trading in the past few days but stressed that “nothing was booming.”
“We were getting more inquiries and traded some decent volumes [in the week of June 9] but overall the market is not booming,” a second mill said. “This week [commencing June 9] was short due to a public holiday on June 9 and the following week will be short again due to Corpus Christi holiday [celebrated June 19].”
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €594.00 per tonne on Friday, down by €6.00 per tonne from €600.00 per tonne on Thursday June 12.
The Northern European index was down by €12.38 per tonne week on week and by €54.00 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, domestic HRC prices in Central Europe were stable during the assessment period, according to market sources.
Mill sources indicated the market level for HRC at €600-630 per tonne ex-works in the region in the week to Wednesday June 11, unchanged from the previous assessment.
Buyers were more bearish with indications reported mainly below €600 per tonne ex-works by Friday.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Central Europe was €600-630 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.
Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €580 per tonne on Friday, down by €1.88 per tonne day on day.
The Italian index was down by €10.00 per tonne week on week and by €30.00 per tonne month on month.
An integrated supplier in Italy was offering HRC at €585-590 per tonne ex-works, with sources telling Fastmarkets that this supplier was “reluctant to provide discounts from these levels.”
Offers from a reroller were heard at €570-580 per tonne ex-works.
Some rerollers were still able to offer late-June lead times, while integrated mills offered July delivery.
One source reported a sale of HRC from a major European mill to Italy at €555 per tonne ex-works, but this information could not be confirmed by the time of publication.
Buyers estimated tradable prices at €570-580 per tonne ex-works, with some bids reported as low as €550 per tonne ex-works.
In the secondary market, 4 mm HR sheet was traded at €660-680 per tonne CPT.
Sources were not ruling out the downtrend continuation in the coming weeks, but also pointed out that “no big shocks” were expected.
“There might be some correction of [HRC] prices, but not a nosedive. Plus, we are heading into the quiet summer period so everything slows down,” a buyer source said.
Import HRC offers were stable to slightly weaker in the week to Friday.
Indonesian HRC was heard offered at €490-500 per tonne CFR to Italy earlier this week, with offers heard sliding to €480 per tonne CFR by Friday.
A large-tonnage transaction for Indonesian HRC was reported at €480-485 per tonne CFR to Italy.
India-origin material was offered around €535-540 per tonne CFR, while Turkish coil was said to be available at €530-540 per tonne CFR, duty paid.
Algerian coil was offered to Italy at €530 per tonne CFR.
From Vietnam and Thailand HRC offers were reported at €515 per tonne CFR to Italy.
Market participants expressed broader concerns about potential import trade flow disruptions amid upcoming implementation of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) added to the prevailing uncertainty.
“The costs of handling imports will dramatically change starting next year and buyers should start to prepare now,” a buyer in Italy said.
“There is a chance we will see rushed import bookings with lead times in 2025 – before CBAM kicks in – and then in the first quarter 2026 there will be a pause in import deliveries and stronger reliance on Europe-origin HRC” a mill source told Fastmarkets.
Other sources argued that with safeguards in place, there was no chance to “rush imports bookings due to high risks.”
