Day: 3 August 2026

Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) remained unchanged on Friday July 31 in both Northern Europe and Italy, while mills were reported to have full order books for the third quarter, expected to come back to the market with higher levels in September, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday.
In Northern Europe, market participants reported no significant trading during the day.

Mills were fully booked through the end of September and were offering October delivery, sources said, adding that August was expected to be a difficult month because most German states were on summer holidays.

Workable prices were indicated at €710-715 ($816-821) per tonne ex-works, while initial offers were reported at €730 per tonne ex-works, but sources said that level was too high.

A buyer said the market was still conditioned by weak demand. “[There are] no big volumes we can order in the moment,” they added.

A second buyer said producers were trying to withdraw volumes from the market now and would initiate increases as much as €20-25 in early September but added that “no one is ready to accept this [higher] level for September because market and demand are very weak.”

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €711.25 per tonne on July 31, unchanged day on day from July 30.

The index was up by €1.25 per tonne week on week and up by €28.12 per tonne month on month.

In Italy, sources said mills were largely absent from the market due to the traditional Ferragosto holiday in August, while demand remained weak.

A buyer said they had purchased HRC at €690 per tonne ex-works around 10 days earlier, but the transaction was excluded from the July 31 index because it fell outside the assessment’s pricing window.

The same source said mills reported full order books for September but added that they were skeptical of this because “if you ask for production, you can have it delivered in three weeks.”

As a result of the limited fresh input on Friday, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was also unchanged at €706.25 per tonne day on day.

The index was up by €1.87 per tonne week on week, with a big move by €38.75 per tonne month on month.

 

Polish domestic long steel prices edged lower in the week to Friday July 31, although market participants said the reductions were encouraging customers to restock.
“We are hearing that stocks were empty and with these new price levels customers have ordered quite a lot,” one distributor source told Fastmarkets.

Despite the improved buying activity, overall demand remained weak, however, particularly for rebar, according to sources.

Offers for Polish rebar came in at 2,660-2,680 ($706- 714) zloty per tonne CPT, with deals heard at those levels, although the overall tradable level was put at 2,650-2,680 zloty per tonne CPT.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, narrowed down to 2,650-2,680 zloty per tonne on Friday, from 2,650-2,700 zloty per tonne on July 24

In terms of wire rod, offers were heard at 2,990-3,100 zloty per tonne delivered, sources said, while the tradable level was put at 3,000-3,100 zloty per tonne delivered.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, widened down to 2,990-3,100 zloty per tonne on Friday, from 3,000-3,100 zloty per tonne a week earlier.

 

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on whether four additional steel product categories should be brought under the EU Steel Regulation, Kallanish learns.

The review covers cast iron tubes, pipes and hollow profiles; non-alloy and other alloy wire; stainless wire; and non-alloy forged bars.

The Commission is seeking feedback from producers, users, traders, importers, industry associations and other stakeholders on whether the products should be added to the regulation.

Following the consultation, the Commission will assess the responses before completing its product scope review by 31 December 2026.

The EU Steel Regulation entered into force on 1 July 2026, replacing the bloc’s previous steel safeguard regime.

The framework includes duty-free tariff rate quotas totalling 18.3 million tonnes, a 50% duty on out-of-quota imports, and a melt-and-pour requirement aimed at preventing circumvention.

French long product prices are mostly stable, with some softening of around €10/tonne ($11.3/t) reflecting current uncertainty and limited downstream demand, Kallanish hears.

In flat products, black hot rolled sheet and tube prices are rising by €40/t on-month to €770-800/t delivered, in line with higher coil prices across Europe.

On long products, downstream sentiment is not negative, though consumption remains reduced. Several distributors report matching first-half volumes from the previous year, with some achieving slightly higher volumes at acceptable margins. Price increases for September appear unlikely, however, given reduced order intake from the construction sector, which in France is going through a harsh crisis.

Domestic merchant bar is at €310-320/t delivered, excluding size extras of around €410/t. Section prices are holding stable for now, with first-category sections at €800/t delivered.

Rebar prices have edged down from last month’s peak to around €680/t delivered as a midpoint, with activity slow due to subdued construction. Section prices are being raised by €25/t, which has not yet translated into contracts. First category sections remain at €800/t delivered.

The market is now at a standstill as the entire sector heads into the August shutdown. Most mills will carry out maintenance during August, with activity set to resume in September.

 

European heavy plate prices held largely stable in the week to 31 July as the market started its summer slowdown.

Spot demand was said to be weak across the European market, but mill orderbooks remain tight due to lesser import accessibility following the entry into force of the EU’s intensified tariff-rate quota (TRQ) regime at the start of July.

In Northwest Europe, price indications for s235jr commodity grade were reported on a wide range centering around EUR820/t ex-works Germany, while in Italy heavy plate was available at EUR690-700/t ex-works, though some indications, especially for project-based demand, were reported higher at EUR710-750/t ex-works. Overall, market participants anticipate increased prices once trading returns substantively after the summer, with a quiet few weeks in the interim.

German sources report very limited volumes available for fresh September production, both due to purchasing ahead of expected offer price increases post-holidays, as well as a 250,000 t booking for a US-based project, resulting in strong purchases from German mills for delivery later this year. As a result, only one German mill was said to have general spot volumes remaining – potentially for the rest of 2026 – with allocations otherwise restricted to special or affiliated customers.

Input slab costs for re-rollers – particularly dominant in Italy – were reported in a range of $560-580/t CIF, clustering toward the lower end of said range. Larger buyers expected to secure deals at a slight discount of around $550/t CIF, and have reported renewed aggression from foreign producers in the semi-finished steel segment now that the EU’s duty-free volumes have been tightened for their traditional finished steel exports.

Weekly European heavy plate, slab and green steel
	Unit	Term	31-Jul-26	Change
Weekly heavy plate
Northwest Europe ex-works heavy plate	EUR/t	EX-WORKS	820.00	0.00
Germany delivered heavy plate (Northwest Europe)	EUR/t	DEL	810.00	0.00
Italy ex-works heavy plate	EUR/t	EX-WORKS	695.00	-5.00
Weekly steel slab
Italy CFR slab	$/t	CFR	555.00	0.00
Weekly green steel
Green heavy plate premium (scopes 1-3 CO2 under 1t)	EUR/t		25.00	0.00

Author: Benjamin Steven and Maria Tanatar

opisnet.com

The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation requesting feedback on the product scope of the EU’s new steel tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), as part of the measure’s embedded review mechanisms. 

The consultation is open until 30 September, and seeks responses from steel producers and consumers, importers, traders, and consultants, as well as various associations and authorities across the steel value chain.

Under the new steel regulation – which entered into force 1 July, intensifying the EU’s steel tariff-rate quota system – the Commission is compelled to assess the “necessity” of adding additional steel products via legislative amendment to its protective coverage before end-of-year, more specifically:

• Tubes, pipes, and hollow profiles of cast iron (7303 00 10, 7303 00 90)
• Non alloy and other alloy wire (7229 20 00, 7229 90 20, 7229 90 50, 7229 90 90);
• Stainless wire (7223 00 11, 7223 00 19, 7223 00 91, 7223 00 99);
• Non alloy and other alloy forged bars (7214 10 00, 7228 10 50, 7228 40 10, 7228 40 90)

The questionnaire asks respondents whether they perceive any effects from global overcapacity on the EU market across the listed product categories, and to submit relevant evidence, as well as reciprocity-based questions on similar market access policies in third countries. Dedicated questions for steel producers seek responses on circumvention routes; while sections for downstream users investigate potential domestic supply and cost inflation risks, and the substitutability of said product categories in downstream processing.

Further review mechanisms within the regulation would then assess extension to imports of downstream steel-containing goods, by 30 June 2027.

McCloskey’s market sources have described the entry into force of the EU’s new steel TRQs as a “new era” for European steel trade, due to the complexity of the new measure, significant cuts to duty-free import volumes across trading partners, and the doubling of out-of-quota duty rates to 50%.

A primary concern that remains for market participants, however, is that protective efforts for upstream goods risks downstream steel consuming industries being forced to replace their domestic steel sourcing and processing operations with the substitutive import of comparatively unshielded finished manufactured goods, to sustain their competitiveness on the global market.

While this consultation will be welcomed by many in the steel value chain, others will likely see the proposed extension as much too slow, such as European steel trade and distribution association EUROMETAL, which has repeatedly called for more immediate and wide-ranging protections for steel-containing goods to prevent – or at least mitigate – an irreversible loss of domestic steel-consuming industrial capacity and demand.

Author: Benjamin Steven

opisnet.com

US investment firm Flacks Group has updated its bid to acquire Italian steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI), formerly known as Ilva, after the Milan Court of Appeal ordered the shutdown of the hot production area, Flacks Group told McCloskey.

On 27 July, the Milan Court of Appeal ordered that ADI shut down operations in the hot section of its Taranto steel plant within the next 90 days. The Milan court originally ordered the suspension of production at the plant on health grounds in late February 2026, but the ruling was conditional on the completion of the required environmental interventions.

Flacks Group developed the updated proposal through the newly established company Flacksider, with the objective of ensuring industrial continuity and building a new low-emission steelmaking facility.

Flacksider’s proposal includes the participation of Flacks Group together with other strategic partners, including equipment supplier Danieli and Ukrainian group Metinvest, according to Flacks Group. The company also believes that state involvement will be crucial to support the industrial transition.

“The Italian government acknowledged that the current sale process can no longer continue under its original terms,” a Flacks Group source said. “For this reason, the government announced that a new tender process will be launched, as the previous one covered both the hot-end and cold-end operations and has effectively been overtaken by the court’s ruling.”

The Italian authorities have not announced the schedule for the new tender yet. The next meeting to analyse the updated proposals will be held by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) on 5 August.

Another potential buyer is India’s Jindal Steel, which expressed interest in acquiring ADI in March, returning to the race for the mill after withdrawing in 2025.

Before the recent court order, potential buyers had presented decarbonisation plans to replace the existing blast furnaces (BFs) with a direct-reduced iron (DRI)-electric arc furnace (EAF) production route to reduce emissions. In addition, market participants suggested that Jindal Steel would also ship low-CO2 steel slab from its new plant in Oman to re-roll at ADI.

To learn more about decarbonization projects in Italy, Oman and globally – see McCloskey’s Global Green Steel Profile.

Flacks Group criticized Jindal Steel, claiming that “the future of Taranto should be based on new low-emission steelmaking facilities located in Italy, capable of ensuring industrial production, employment and Europe’s strategic autonomy.”

Author: Maria Tanatar

opisnet.com

The European Commission proposed a reform of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) in mid-July to better align climate and industrial realities, but while suggested changes to the ‘CBAM factor’ would eventually grant discounted liabilities under the instrument, upfront costs remain prohibitive for many steel trade routes. 

Proposed changes to the ‘CBAM factor’ – the EU’s ratcheting replacement to free allocation, to address carbon leakage concerns – would reintroduce 15% of phased-out emissions allowances (EUAs) as a buffer, extending the curve of free allocation reductions out to 2038.

Proposed ETS free allocation phase-out rate (CBAM factor)

Year	Proposed % (July)	Existing %	Increase %	Conditional on decarbonisation investment?
2026	97.5	97.5	0	No
2027	95	95	0	No
2028	91.5	90	1.5	No
2029	81	77.5	3.5	No
2030	59	51.5	7.5	No
2031	48	39	9	Yes
2032	37.5	26.5	11	Yes
2033	27	14	13	Yes
2034	15	0	15	Yes
2035	15	0	15	Yes
2036	15	0	15	Yes
2037	15	0	15	Yes
2038	0	0	0	Yes

Source: European Commission July ETS review proposal

Other elements of the Commission’s proposals would adjust ETS mechanisms like the Linear Reduction Factor and Market Stability Reserve, intending to prevent carbon price inflation (and volatility) beyond what domestic industry can handle as it pursues decarbonisation of its processes without overly undermining global competitiveness.

Despite these changes, CAMIRO’s short and long-term forecasts still see EUA prices gradually escalating to break the EUR200 barrier post-2033, with higher prices expected 2026-2027 in line with post-review increases above EUR80.

Beyond EUA price effects, as McCloskey detailed in the lead-up to the July ETS review, CBAM already threatens sky-high costs when using ‘default’ emissions values, especially from recently disruptive origins like Indonesia. Trading sources also fear that the EU’s new and intensified tariff-rate quota regime for steel imports could lessen exporter willingness to properly invest in emissions monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) processes necessary to report ‘actual’ emissions values in CBAM declarations as a result of their reduced market access, further compounding cost risks.

This week, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) released its “State of Border Carbon Adjustments 2026” report, finding that businesses are already being confronted with less evident compliance costs from necessary investments in IT infrastructure, supply chain data collection, and the demands of verification – particularly burdensome on upstream small- and medium-sized enterprises.

IISD also track the development of Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs) worldwide as jurisdictions seek to reclaim climate revenues within their own borders (via CBAM deductions for ‘carbon prices already paid’), which could then compound these compliance costs significantly as different BCA methodologies and implementations hit globalised supply chains from different angles without supportive interoperability.

The European Commission’s proposed adjustment to free allocation via the CBAM factor is suggested to return phased-out EUAs to ETS supply from 2028, with the inaugural years of the definitive stage remaining unchanged in terms of effective emissions liabilities. That is around the same time as the proposed extension of the EU CBAM to downstream products, which also contains new anti-circumvention provisions seeking to ensure the accuracy and integrity of reporting for emissions embedded in imported goods. The regulation is working its way through the initial stages of the EU’s tripartite legislative process, with variations of the product scope and anti-circumvention provisions suggested by the Commission, and Parliamentary committees.

Generally, these anti-circumvention provisions would target origins engaging in “abusive practices,” specifically emphasising “resource shuffling,” in which exporters designate portions of their production – via specific installations – for export to the EU, purely to minimise CBAM liabilities without engaging in full-scale emissions reductions.

The latest parliamentary amendments propose to apply “country-level default values […] systematically and ex ante to combinations of countries and goods defined as being at high risk of abusive practices,” introducing yet another cost risk for importers beyond their direct control. In identifying groups of origins or goods at risk of circumvention, it is suggested that the Commission considers a wide range of flexible factors, including the mere fact of capacity to circumvent; dubious reporting trends; the decarbonisation reality of relevant installations; and perhaps most controversially, “the existence of EU anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures in force against the country in the relevant sector.”

As detailed by McCloskey’s Steel Trade Protection Measures Database, the EU currently has over 70 different trade defense instruments (TDIs) in force, or under review across a range of steel and steel-containing goods against different trading partners: China; Egypt; India; Indonesia; Iran; Japan; Malaysia; Russia; South Korea; Taiwan, China; Thailand; Turkey; the US; and Vietnam. The European Commission also committed to taking a more proactive approach to trade defense in last year’s Steel and Metals Action Plan (SMAP), lessening its legal test for investigation to the threat, rather than realisation, of injury to its domestic industries.

These TDIs apply cumulatively with the EU’s new steel TRQs, which have themselves been challenged as noncompliant with World Trade Organisation rules (as has CBAM, as tracked by the IISD report), layering potentially self-reinforcing cost risks for steel importers throughout the EU’s trade – and now climate – framework.

Gerold Lorenz, Managing Director of trading house INTERFER Group, asks on social media whether CBAM is thus increasingly becoming a “trade protection measure,” stating that “trade policy criteria such as existing trade-defence measures have no place in a climate instrument.”

“If verified emissions data can be set aside because of broader country-level trade-policy considerations, CBAM risks moving beyond carbon accounting and becoming a de facto trade protection instrument,” Lorenz writes.

Overall, the Commission’s July policy package, and suggested ETS reform appears to do little to mitigate CBAM costs for importers, despite its headline amendments to the “CBAM factor.” Initial costs under CBAM are still prohibitive in many cases, and the real cost drivers – the risk of having to use default emissions values – remain unchanged, or could even be intensified should anti-circumvention elements mandate their use for specific product groups or origins, or if the EU’s increasingly burdensome trade protection framework disincentivises exporters from sufficiently engaging with Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) preparations.

Author: Benjamin Steven

opisnet.com