European steel plate market stagnates on slow demand
Italy
For several weeks domestic prices for commodity-grade steel heavy plate in Italy have been stuck at €630-650 ($723-745) per tonne ex-works, with transactions reported within the range.
Offers of €660-670 per tonne for May rolling have not been achievable in spot sales so far, sources said.
“The market [for heavy plate] is very quiet. Besides, this week [commencing April 21] there are only three working days in Italy [and] many people are on holidays, so trading is close to zero,” one buyer in Italy told Fastmarkets.
Demand for heavy plate was limited, with sources continuing to report only hand-to-mouth bookings.
“Plate producers are having a difficult time since there is simply not enough demand. And stockholders and end users are only purchasing missing dimensions/grades, so Italian commodity [heavy plate] prices are stuck,” a second buyer said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe on Wednesday was €630-650 per tonne, widening downward by $10 from €640-650 per tonne seven days ago.
New import offers have been very limited because new safeguards were announced and came into force on April 1.
Sources said there were sufficient stocks of imported plate in ports available at prices around €20-30 per tonne lower than local material and with short delivery times.
Northern Europe
In Northern Europe, trading was also quiet and earlier attempts by German mills to lift prices were largely unsuccessful, according to sources.
One German producer, which traditionally focuses on project business, was offering heavy steel plate with lead times of around six weeks at €750-790 per tonne ex-works. This price was not considered workable for the spot market.
A second German supplier kept its offer price for steel plate at €700-720 per tonne ex-works from one location, and at €690-700 from another.
Lead times from German suppliers was estimated at roughly eight weeks.
But market sources pointed out that recent transactions for commodity-grade heavy plate [s235 and s275] were mainly done at price levels below €700 per tonne.
Traded volumes were still limited in the spot market, but some sources noted a pick-up in inquiries in the second half of April.
Sources also reported improved demand from shipbuilding, but the major orders for heavy plate were still coming from the wind energy sector for offshore foundations or monopiles for offshore farms.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe was €680-700 per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
European HRC prices stable to slightly weaker amid buyer caution in uncertain market
In Northern Europe, trading was quiet, with no changes in offer prices or in the workable estimates for HRC trades.
“There are [Easter] school holidays in some countries so, overall, the market is quiet,” a buyer in Germany said. “And the next week will be short again due to public holiday on May 1, so it looks like everyone is just waiting for the Made in Steel [trade fair in Italy on May 6-8] to see where the market is going.”
Suppliers in the Benelux region and Germany were well-booked and had HRC with June-July lead times on offer at around €670-700 ($768-803) per tonne ex-works, sources said.
But buyer sources said the offer prices were “too elevated and not reflective” of the current economic situation.
“Real demand remains weak and soon it will start to put some pressure on domestic HRC prices,” a second buyer in Northern Europe said.
The tradable value were estimated by buyers at no more than €640-660 per tonne ex-works.
Other sources, however, said there was room for more HRC price rises, given the limited availability of imports and increasing reliance on domestic supplies.
“The balance is shifting,” a third buyer source said. “We have a seller’s market at the moment [and] afeguards and anti-dumping [measures have] closed the European market to traditional import suppliers and the European buyers are yet to find new sources [of imports].
In the meantime, European mills remain the first choice for many buyers,” the buyer added.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €652.00 per tonne on April 23, down slightly by €2.00 per tonne from the previous calculation of €654.00 per tonne on April 22.
The Northern European index was down by €1.13 per tonne week on week, but was up by €11.62 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €625.42 per tonne on Wednesday, edging down by €2.08 per tonne from €627.50 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was down by €4.58 per tonne week on week, but up by €2.92 per tonne month on month.
Trading activity in the Italian market was minimal in between holidays.
“We have only three working days [this week] in Italy and many people are on holiday, so trading is close to zero,” a buyer in Italy said.
Sources reported steady offers at around €640-650 per tonne delivered (€630-640 per tonne ex-works) from suppliers and at around €620 per tonne ex-works from a mill, with some room for discounts, Fastmarkets understands.
Buyers estimated achievable prices at €620-630 per tonne ex-works. For big tonnages [3,000-5,000 tonnes], however, bids were heard at €610-620 per tonne delivered (€600-610 per tonne ex-works). Although sources said there has not been “much appetite” for big volumes.
In the secondary market, 4 mm HR sheet was on offer at €700-720 per tonne CPT, stable for the past few weeks, although sources said sales were slow.
There were few offers of HRC imports due to the EU’s numerous trade measures, with “traditional” suppliers in Vietnam, Egypt and Japan facing anti-dumping duties, while quarterly quotas were cut for other origins, forcing European buyers to explore other options.
A sizable HRC cargo from Indonesia was heard booked to Italy at €520 per tonne CFR earlier this month, although some sources said the same deal had been closed at €530 per tonne CFR.
And one Indian supplier was heard offering HRC to Europe at €565 per tonne CFR for June shipment.
June-shipment HRC from Turkey was on offer at €560-570 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
Tosyali confirms ongoing acquisition talks for Liberty Steel’s Luxembourg plant
Negotiations to acquire Liberty Steel’s Dudelange facility in Luxembourg are ongoing, Tosyali Holding CEO Fuat Tosyali said in a video interview with local media published April 17.
A Tosyali executive previously confirmed to Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, that the company had submitted a purchase bid for the facility.
Tosyali had started new strategic acquisition negotiations in the European steel sector following the acquisition of Spain’s Baika Steel Tubular Systems in 2024, Tosyali said, adding that negotiations for the Liberty facility have been continuing intensively and were hoped to be finalized soon.
“Although liquid steel production in Europe has fallen in recent years, steel demand continues,” Tosyali said, adding the company was aiming to meet European steel demand more easily with these strategic acquisitions.
“With our touch, all the parameters will change in the Luxembourg facility,” he said.
Platts contacted Liberty on the matter, although the company declined to comment.
Liberty Dudelange, which was declared bankrupt by the Luxembourg Commercial Tribunal in December, has two hot-dip galvanizing lines with a total capacity of 620,000 mt/year, two electro galvanizing lines with a total capacity of 360,000 mt/year and a steel service center.
Platts last assessed the Turkish HDG price at $790/mt ex-works on April 11, stable week over week.
EU HRC prices rangebound following Easter holiday
Sources reported quieter activity as the market reopened after the Easter break, as many remained optimistic for a clearer price direction at the start of May.
“I think it will be a quiet week, and a slow return to how it was before … Many are in wait-and-see mode and or are still on the Easter break,” a German service center source said, anticipating largely unchanged market fundamentals.
Another source said all June deliveries had been paused amid negative market sentiment and general uncertainty.
“I am no longer offering for June deliveries anymore,” a trader source said.
Some Northern European Mills also shared reports of continuing to wait out the uncertainty and recent price stability, opting to hold material for better prices.
“We are not really offering at the moment because our capacities are limited and when we offer, we are way too expensive,” a mill source said.
Other buyer-side sources also reported waiting on the sidelines, citing the recent turbulent US tariff updates and changing policies in Europe.
HRC import offers were heard at Eur600/mt CIF Antwerp, ex-Turkey, duty paid while HRC net remaining import quotas for Turkey decreased from 70.44% on April 17 to 63.55% on April 22.
Platts assessed HRC in Northwest Europe stable at Eur650/mt EXW Ruhr on April 22, and in Southern Europe at Eur625/mt EXW Italy, both stable day over day.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northern Europe at Eur545/mt CIF Antwerp, and in Southern Europe at Eur535/mt CIF Italy, both stable day over day.
Alexander Wong | Charles Thompson
Stellantis automotive production plunges
Stellantis has reported a 35% decrease in production for the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to Fim-Cisl trade unions.
Q1 production was 109,900 units, which includes both cars and commercial vans, in contrast to 170,415 units produced in Q1 2024.
Production of passenger cars experienced a significant decline of 42.5%, resulting in a total output of 60,533 cars. Similarly, output of commercial vans saw a reduction of 24.2%, bringing the total to 49,367 units.
All plants reported production decline. The union’s outlook suggests a continued drop in the upcoming quarters, with temporary layoffs affecting nearly 50% of the automaker’s workforce.
According to Stellantis chief executive John Elkann and chief operating officer of Enlarged Europe Jean-Philippe Imparato, the changes made to the industrial plan in response to union protests, which resulted in the resignation of former ceo Carlos Tavares, could result in a notable increase in production in 2026, similar to that observed in 2023, a union note says.
Stellantis is maintaining its target of achieving 1 million tonnes of output by 2030, alongside a planned investment of €2 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2025 at its Italian plants.
It reported a significant decline in passenger car production for full year 2024, with a year-on-year decrease of 45.7%, totalling 283,090 units.
“We have to go back to 1956 to get such a low output figure,” reads another union note obtained by Kallanish.
Overall production of passenger cars and commercial vehicles experienced a decline of 36.8%, totalling 475,090 units in comparison to 2023. All plants are projected to show a decline in 2025.
Italian passenger car production plunged in January and February, following a significant decline in 2024, reported automotive association Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (Anfia).
February car output declined 49.7% year-on-year to 22,100 units and by as much as 55.2% on-year in the first two months of the year to 32,900 units. Italian car output in 2024 declined 42.8% versus 2023 to 309,758 units. The total number of vehicles produced in the country last year, including heavy duty vehicles, amounted to 519,000 units, reflecting a 32.3% decline compared to 2023 (see Kallanish passim).
Natalia Capra France
German construction registers slight silver lining
Residential construction approvals in Germany in the three-month period of December through February were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, Kallanish hears from industry association Bauindustrie (Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie).
Although February was 2.3% down year-on-year, with 17,900 residential units approved, the association finds that that the three-month trend gives hope that the floor has been reached, after a long decline. This is especially the case for multi-storey buildings, which account for two thirds of residential construction, although the number of approvals in January and February was still down 1.3% y-o-y, totalling 18,500 units.
Family houses saw a respectable surge of 12.4% in January and February, but only against a continued weakness of less than 5,000 units per month since summer 2023. Private builders were especially discouraged by insecurity over inflation and interest rates, and rising costs of building materials, although not necessarily steel (see separate story on rebar).
In an earlier survey published at the beginning of the year, 79% of construction companies said they did not expect the construction crisis to end this year, but would not cut back on staff.
In March, the German government’s announcement of a €500 billion ($565 billion) special fund for infrastructure investment gave reason for new optimism. However, the distribution of the money still needs to be clarified, and Bauindustrie emphasises that medium-sized enterprises and municipal governments should get a share and have a say.
“We need a variety of projects of different sizes, so that especially medium-sized companies will benefit,” says managing director Tim-Oliver Müller. “After all, the renovation of a town hall takes different expertise than the replacement of a big bridge like the damaged autobahn bridge in Berlin.”
Christian Koehl Germany
Rebar price gap widens in northwest Europe
The gap between rebar prices north and south of the Alps has widened recently, with German mills managing to implement price increases where Italian producers had been unsuccessful.
For northern and central Germany, buyers report that base prices have passed the €400/tonne ($460/t) mark, a level which mills previously tried to reach in vain. Due to the prolonged closure of the steelworks at Riva Hennigsdiorf, prices of around €420/t can be achieved.
Meanwhile in Italy, minor increases were attempted earlier in April, but withdrawn in the pre-Easter week, to base prices of around €320/t (see Kallanish 21 April).
In Austria, which is exposed to both markets, the domestic mill recently lifted offers by €20/t, but remains under the €400/t mark, now at around €390/t.
“We cannot hand down that increase, that market won’t accept it” one buyer tells Kallanish.
Offers from Italian mills to Austria in early April also rose by €20/t to €385/t base now, he adds.
The impression is confirmed from southern Germany, where similar prices are offered from Italy, one Bavarian buyer tells Kallanish.
From German mills, base prices offered south are lower than further north.
“Some are offering at €400/t, others are coming close to that, but we have not heard €420/t here,” the buyer says, attributing the lower southern level to the Italian influence.
Meanwhile, another manager notes that wire mesh prices are showing a stronger upward momentum than bar prices, following price increases for input materials.
Recent base prices for wire mesh were at €500/t, which is only €80/t above the higher end of rebar prices. The manager believes they will soon reach the customary premium of €100/t, and possibly beyond that.
Christian Koehl Germany
Italian crude steel production up six percent in March
Italian crude steel production up six percent in March
In March this year, crude steel production in Italy totaled 2 million mt, marking a year-on-year increase of six percent, and recovering from the sharp drop recorded in the same month last year. According to the latest data released by Federacciai, the Italian federation of steel companies, total crude steel output in the first three months of the year reached 5.5 million mt, up by 3.1 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
2025 Crude steel output
| Month | 000/mt | Y-o-y change (%) | Year-to-date | Y-o-y change (%) |
| Jan | 1,698 | 3.9% | 1,698 | 3.9% |
| Feb | 1,813 | -0.8% | 3,511 | 1.4% |
| Mar | 2,016 | 6% | 5,527 | 3.1% |
Looking at the long and flat product segments, in March this year the production of longs grew by 1.2 percent year on year, amounting to 1.2 million mt. Meanwhile, flat steel output totaled 904,000 mt, up by 13.6 percent compared to March 2024.
In the January-March period this year, longs output declined by 0.9 percent to 3.1 million mt, while output of flat steel increased by 9.1 percent, reaching approximately 2.5 million mt, both year on year.
HRC prices flatten in Europe; trading slow after holiday
The European hot-rolled coil market was quiet after the Easter break with demand muted. Industry sources do not expect major changes in the market until the Made in Steel trade fair in early May, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday April 22.
HRC with June-July lead times was heard offered in Northern Europe around €670-700 ($771-806) per tonne ex-works.
Transactions in the region were reported within the range of €640-660 per tonne ex-works before the Easter break, but traded volumes were limited.
“Stockholders are very cautious and order only sizes which are not available, and don’t dare restocking on a bigger scale,” a second buyer in Germany said.
Market participants hope to get greater clarity regarding the price direction after the Made in Steel trade fair in Milan on May 6-8.
Some sources were not ruling out further increases, considering reduced domestic supply and limited imports due to trade measures.
“EU mills are comfortably booked. Some suppliers are overbooked for the second quarter. It’s a seller’s market,” a distributor in Benelux area said.
Other sources expressed doubts over the uptrend continuing, considering a lack of real demand.
“Global markets are very volatile. The US tariff impact is unforeseeable but potentially might mean a hit for the already suffering automotive industry in Europe. [It is] hard to predict [steel] price movements in such conditions,” a mill source said.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €654 per tonne on Tuesday, up slightly from the previous calculation of €653.13 per tonne on April 17.
Fastmarkets’ European HRC indices were not published on April 18 and April 21 because of the Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays in the United Kingdom.
The Northern European index was down by €0.17 per tonne week on week but up by €13.62 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €627.50 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €0.67 per tonne from €628.17 per tonne on April 17.
The index was down by €4.00 per tonne week on week but up by €5.00 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was quiet on Tuesday, with softer demand compared to Northern Europe.
Sources suggested that was due to higher stocks against slow real demand.
One integrated mill in Italy was heard offering at €640-660 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €630-650 per tonne ex-works.
Another supplier was heard selling June-delivery HRC at €610-620 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers estimated achievable prices at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources reported softer import offers.
Notably, from one Turkish supplier, HRC was heard to be offered to Italy at €550 per tonne CFR duty paid. Other sources argued that this price excluded the duty.
This was in contrast with offers reported at €580-600 per tonne CFR, duty paid, in the previous week.
Indonesian offers have been reported at €540-550 per tonne CFR Italy, while one supplier was heard providing “significant” discounts for bigger volumes up to €520-530 per tonne CFR.
Offers from one Indian mill to Italy were reported at €590 per tonne CFR, while a transaction was reported at €575 per tonne CFR late last week.
EC approves Spanish state aid to support renewable hydrogen production
The European Commission has announced that it has approved a €400 million Spanish State aid scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen through the European Hydrogen Bank’s “Auctions-as-a-Service” tool. This will contribute to the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal to accelerate the decarbonization of EU industry, while it will reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the green transition. The aid will be granted for a maximum duration of ten years.
The approved scheme will support construction of up to 345 MW of installed electrolyser capacity, and the production of up to 221,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen in Spain. The scheme will help Spain achieve its national objective to install 12 GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030, as well as the targets for the share of renewable fuels of non-biological origin consumed in transport and in industry.