In Northern Europe, tradable levels continued to hover within the range of €740-750 ($830-842) per tonne ex-works, versus offers at €750-760 per tonne ex-works.
While trading activity was muted, most offers reported were for December delivery, and some sources said some regional suppliers were already sold out until the end of the year.
However, other sources disagreed, saying customers’ stocks are high, some service centers have enough inventory not to restock heavily even in 2027, and mills are ready to sell HRC at €720 per tonne ex-works. This information was excluded from the October 22 index calculation as uncorroborated.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €748.00 per tonne on October 22, up by €1.33 per tonne from €746.67 on October 21.
The index was up by €3 per tonne week on week and by €4.25 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was also quiet, with indications of the tradable level at €730 per tonne ex-works during the day, while earlier in the week they were at €730-750 per tonne ex-works, with remarks that only limited tonnages were traded at the upper end of the range and €730 per tonne ex-works was called more realistic.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €738.75 per tonne on October 22, down by €3.75 per tonne day on day from €742.50 per tonne on October 21.
The index was down by €5 per tonne week on week but up by €3.50 per tonne month on month.
The supply situation in Italy should improve soon, as Arvedi reportedly restarted the hot-rolling line that was stopped at the end of September due to technical issues.
Meanwhile, the Italian government has allowed Acciaierie d’Italia to keep the hot-end facilities at its Taranto plant heated until no later than December 15 to prevent irreversible equipment damage, while the company challenges a court-ordered shutdown, but the measure does not authorize normal steel production.
Central Europe was the only region where suppliers tried to increase prices, but they still faced significant resistance. The absence of Ukrainian material, due to disruption of production caused by severe equipment damage from Russian attacks on Ukrainian mills, was one of the factors supporting a stronger position for European mills.
The market leader announced new offers at €790-800 per tonne CPT, equivalent to €770-785 per tonne ex-works, but these have not yet materialized in deals.
Another supplier in the region was heard to have achieved €765-775 per tonne CPT in recent transactions, netting back to €745-760 per tonne ex-works.
As a result, Fastmarkets weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil domestic, Central Europe, was €745-760 per tonne ex-works on October 21, up from €740-750 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.
On the import side, the hot-rolled coil market in Europe was also largely quiet, with just a few deals heard during the week, as quotas for the current quarter from the key suppliers, Turkey and India, have already been exceeded.
Egyptian HRC was heard sold at $750 (€667) per tonne CFR, with the country’s fourth-quarter quota now said to be filled.
Turkish material was still heard available at €595 per tonne CFR, although the quota for this year was earlier said to have been exceeded by more than 100,000 tonnes.
Similarly, Indian coils continued to be offered at $740-760 (€659-667) per tonne CFR.
Fastmarkets weekly assessments for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main port Southern and Northern Europe, were €595-670 per tonne on October 21, narrowing upward from €590-670 per tonne on October 14.
On a DDP basis, offers were heard mainly from Asia, varying within the range of €760-790 per tonne.
A cargo of Chinese material was heard sold to Europe at €780 per tonne DDP.
Estimates of Turkish and Indian prices, including the duty payable for exceeding the quarterly quota, were at €720-740 per tonne DDP.
Author: Vlada Novokreshchenova
