Steel hot-rolled coil prices rose slightly in both Northern Europe and Italy on Thursday October 1, despite buyers resisting higher prices from mills, Fastmarkets heard.
“People have high stocks and are not accepting higher levels at the moment,” a source in Northern Europe said.
According to the source, import pressure is limited thanks to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), giving mills more scope to raise prices. However, customers are not yet accepting higher offers from producers.
In Northern Europe, sources indicated tradable levels hovering at €740-750 ($839-850) per tonne ex-works, with reports of offers heard at €760 per tonne ex-works.
However, no reports of fresh trading activity were heard during the week.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €748.33 per tonne on Thursday October 1, up by €1.45 per tonne from €746.88 per tonne on Wednesday September 30.
The index was up by €6.66 per tonne week on week and stable month on month.
Meanwhile, in Italy, trading activity also remained limited.
Indications of workable levels were heard at €740-750 per tonne ex-works, with no reports of new offers or trading activity from market sources.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €745 per tonne on Thursday October 1, up by €1.25 per tonne from €743.75 per tonne on Wednesday September 30.
The index was up by €7.5 per tonne week on week and by €32.5 per tonne month on month.
