European heavy plate round-up

European s235jr-grade heavy plate prices remained unchanged in the week to 23 October, with sentiment turning more bullish due to restocking and higher slab costs.

“Real demand did not improve, but cutting centres and stockists need to buy,” a German distributor said.”Lead times are getting longer,”

Italian re-rollers concluded transactions for s235jr plate with spot buyers at EUR740-750/t ex-works, with the majority of indications reported at the upper end of the range. Offers were heard at EUR770-800/t ex-works.

Deals for project volumes have been concluded at prices closer to EUR800/t ex-works Italy.

While Italian mills have largely consolidated their offers, re-rollers from France and Northwest Europe have been offering s355jr material at the lowest prices in Germany, securing deals at competitive prices.

Italian mills have been offering s355jr plate at EUR860-870/t delivered Germany, compared with deals concluded with re-rollers from France and Northwest Europe at EUR840-850/t delivered. Offers for material from a Czech-based producer were reported at EUR880-890/t delivered.

German mills continued to focus on long-term agreements and projects, limiting their presence in the spot market. Offers from domestic steelmakers were heard at EUR850-890/t ex-works for s235jr plate and at EUR900/t delivered for s355jr material.

Prices for imported slab from Asia have been heard at $600/t CIF Italian ports.

Steel imports, including slab, cleared through customs in the first quarter of 2027 will be affected by the evolution of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) framework, which will require importers to hold certificates covering at least 50% of their CBAM liability before the end of each quarter. As verification of exporters’ emissions data is inherently retroactive, CBAM rules require this rolling liability to be assessed using either default values or values corresponding to those underlying certificates surrendered in the previous year, where the country of origin and CN codes match. Given European re-rollers will not be able to surrender CBAM certificates until declarations are due in September 2027, this 50% requirement would effectively need to be assessed using costlier default values.

While importers are able to refund excess CBAM certificates purchased on the basis of default values if they can verify lower actual emissions values, the working capital burden is still significant. As an example, the default-value-based cost per tonne of a 2027 Chinese slab import could exceed EUR200/t, at a CBAM certificate price of EUR80/t.

Author: Benjamin Steven & Maria Tanatar

opisnet.com