Notably, new HRC offer prices from ArcelorMittal with lead times in June-July were heard at €700 per tonne ex-works, or delivered, across Europe, sources said.
This is up from the producer’s previous offer price of €680 per tonne ex-works for HRC reported in March.
In February, the steelmaker did a similar move, raising prices in Europe by €30 per tonne.
ArcelorMittal’s press office does not usually comment on prices.
So far, the market has had mixed reactions to the new increase.
“The price increase is based entirely on the lack of imports [because of]… safeguard measures and domestic supply issues. Real demand is still slow,” a buyer in Germany said.
Meanwhile, other mill sources said that apparent buying did pick up recently after new safeguards measures were announced and provisional anti-dumping (AD) duties against Japan, Vietnam and Egypt were set.
On March 25, the European Commission announced the results of its steel safeguards review, with new adjustments to the current measures to come into force this Tuesday.
And on March 14, the Commission proposed to set provisional AD duty rates on HRC imports from Egypt, Vietnam and Japan, Fastmarkets reported.
In recent weeks, European HRC prices have been gradually increasing, with support from limited availability of imports and supply issues at some domestic suppliers.
“ArcelorMittal is doing what they have to do as market leaders. And we all know that HRC imports will face a bottleneck; alternatives, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, are not yet as reliable,” a trading source in Southern Europe said.
Order books at key suppliers in Germany and the Benelux area were reportedly satisfactory, so producers were in no hurry to sell material and felt no pressure to give discounts.
“Most major suppliers are comfortably booked and have little tonnages left for second-quarter delivery,” a mill source in northern Europe said.
“Demand has picked up in recent weeks — there is restocking, and considering the imports situation [new safeguards and anti-dumping against Vietnam, Egypt and Japan], many buyers opt for European HRC to mitigate risks,” a second mill source said.
But tradeable prices for HRC across Europe have remained far below ArcelorMittal’s target offers, sources said.
“Increasing [HRC] prices against weak consumption is unsustainable,” a second trader said.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €645.00 per tonne on April 1, down by €1.25 per tonne from €646.25 per tonne on Monday March 31.
The Northern European index was up by €1.67 per tonne week on week and by €18.17 per tonne month on month.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
