ArcelorMittal increased its offer prices for steel coil in Europe on 20 January, according to trading sources.
The new target prices across Europe for April shipment hot-rolled coil (HRC) are EUR700/t delivered, for cold-rolled coil (CRC) – EUR830/t delivered and for hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG) – EUR820/t delivered. These are around EUR30-40/t higher than the previous official rise announced in the middle of December 2025.
European coil prices have started to recover from the middle of January supported by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which came into force this year, seasonal demand recovery and an anticipated reduction in import quotas in the second half of 2026.
McCloskey’s weekly assessment for domestic HRC prices in Northwest Europe was EUR635/t ex-works on 16 January, up EUR15/t on the week.
The introduction of CBAM has made imports riskier as buyers face substantial duties based on default values unless the exporters can verify their actual emissions. This has made buyers either turn to European mills or to book from big trading companies on a DDP basis, making prices higher.
Most market participants anticipate that prices will continue to rise as the market share of European mills will expand due to the impact of CBAM and trade measures.
The CRC segment is expected to be particularly impacted by the new regulations, as European buyers have been mainly relying on imports for supply of commodity grade material. European mills have preferred to trade either HRC and HDG due to higher costs and lower prices for CRC.
ArcelorMittal’s new CRC offer price is slightly higher than that for HDG, reflecting a shift in the market. Traditionally HDG has traded at a premium to CRC.
The anticipated decision in the EU’s anti-dumping probe started in September against CRC imports from Japan, Turkey, Vietnam and Taiwan, China is expected to support the change in the market.
