Category: Latest Updates

Hot-rolled coil prices were largely stable across Europe amid slow trading, with sources not expecting to see a rebound until September, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 11.Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €680.83 ($747) per tonne on Tuesday, up by €0.83 per tonne from €680.00 per tonne on Monday July 10.

The latest calculation of the Northern European index was down by just €0.63 per tonne week on week, and down by €19.17 per tonne month on month.

Some producers in Germany were trying to push offers to around €720 per tonne delivered (€700 per tonne EXW) for September-October delivery coil, but traded volumes were still very limited.

Most buyer sources estimated tradable values at €670-680 per tonne EXW with transactions reported within that range.

“Trading is very slow, with spot sales are mainly done for small tonnages,” a steel service center in Germany said.

Sources said that prices were unlikely to decline in the short term due to the uptrend in imports and reduced availability caused by technical issues at some European mills. Additionally, most producers take a traditional two-to-three-week maintenance break in August.

Sources added, however, that there was no room for substantial price rises because of insufficient demand from end users.

“We will have to [take] small steps [in implementing any increases]. Maybe in September there will be some pick-up in apparent steel demand, given that buyers do not really restock now and in August the mills have stoppages, but [if] end-user demand does not rebound, major price rises will not happen,” a mill source told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy at €661.25 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €7.08 per tonne from €668.33 per tonne the previous day.

The Italian index was up by €3.33 per tonne week on week, and up by €6.25 per tonne month on month.

Offer prices from Italian mills were reported at €670-700 per tonne EXW for September delivery HRC.

Buyers have started showing more interest in purchases lately, but their idea of a tradable range was still around €650-660 per tonne EXW and traded tonnages remained limited, sources said.

“Italian mills increased their offer prices, but the increases were nominal and just indicated that the downtrend was over. Some small [price] gains have been achieved in deals, but transactions are still [rare],” a trading source said.

Europe HRC import market has been quiet recently, due to the long lead times offered by overseas suppliers and the shrinking gap with domestic prices.

Asian mills were offering HRC to Italy at around €610-630 per tonne CFR Italy for September-October shipment.

One source reported an HRC offer from a Vietnamese mill at $645 (€590) per tonne CFR for September shipment, but it could not be widely confirmed with other market sources by the time of publication.

Published by: Julia Bolotova

The European hot-rolled coil market remained quiet on Monday July 10, with few new trades reported. Prices were stable in the Northern European HRC market, while in the Italian market there was a slight price increase, which resulted from a reported improvement in trading.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €680 ($745.76) per tonne on July 10, down by €2 per tonne from €682 per tonne on July 7.

The latest calculation of the Northern European index was stable week on week but down by €20 per tonne month on month.

Buyers in the region estimated tradeable values at €680 per tonne EXW for September-delivery HRC. Mill offer prices were reported at €680-800 per tonne EXW for September-delivery HRC.

“Northern European producers are trying to maintain higher offer prices but for large tonnages tradeable values are closer to €680 per tonne EXW,” a trader source told Fastmarkets.

In the week to July 7, mills in central Europe were reportedly targeting offer prices of around €750 per tonne EXW; however, this information was not widely confirmed by all market participants.

With trading slow and customers reluctant to restock, it remains uncertain whether the market will accept any further price rises.

Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €668.33 per tonne on Friday, up by €6.33 per tonne from €662 per tonne on July 7.

The Italian index was up by €18.33 per tonne week on week and up by €13.33 per tonne month on month.

In the week to July 7, mills were making higher offers of €680-700 per tonne EXW amid slightly improved apparent demand.

Buyers in the region estimated tradeable values at €660-670 per tonne EXW for September delivery HRC, while offer prices were reported on July 10 at €670-680 per tonne EXW for September delivery.

Market participants have turned more bullish because of indications that apparent demand has improved, Fastmarkets heard.

“The market conditions seem to be getting firmer,” a trader source said.

“There seems to be small improvement in apparent demand; however, restocking remains at rock-bottom prices,” a buyer source in the region told Fastmarkets.

Sources generally expect customers to restock before mills cut production for the summer months.

Import HRC offers from Asia were reported at €620-630 per tonne CFR to Italy on July 10.

Published by: India-Inés Levy

Wuppermann AG says it has approved the investment in the expansion of the tube mill at Wuppermann Metalltechnik GmbH (WMT) in Altmünster, Austria.

The planned total investment is around €40 million ($44m), Kallanish learns from the processor company, which is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, and has operations in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands.

It plans to build a new hall complex for two tube welding lines and highly automated pre-material and finished goods warehouses. An adjacent plot of land, which was acquired in 2021, offers ideal spatial conditions to integrate the building into the landscape, Wuppermann notes.

It highlights the technological possibilities of the new tube welding line, with extensive automation of the entire tube production and logistics processes. “The use of artificial intelligence will bring us advantages, particularly in the quality of our products, but also in the efficiency of our processes,” says executive board spokesman Johannes Nonn.

Once all necessary permits have been granted, earthworks are scheduled to begin in 2024. After completion of the building, the installation of the tube welding line will follow. The existing tube welding line will remain in operation to guarantee an uninterrupted supply to customers. Production at the new tube welding line will start in 2025, after which the existing line will also be relocated to the new hall complex.

Christian Koehl Germany

German recycling group Alba Europe Holding says it has decided to stop the process for the sale of its listed steel and metal division Alba SE.

Last year, Alba Europe announced its intention to sell the majority of Alba SE (see Kallanish 11 March 2022), which is mostly owned by one of the holding’s owners, Eric Schweitzer. It cited the European Green Deal which would lead to a structural change in the steel industry in order to comply with climate protection. “We are therefore looking for a strategic investor” to share ambitions for organic growth and acquisitions, Schweitzer said then. He also pointed to the growing interest from steelmakers in securing direct access to scrap.

“The circumstances have changed fundamentally in the meantime,” Alba chief executive Robert Arbter says in the latest statement from the group. “The past year, with the Ukraine war and the European and German progress in climate protection policy, has shown that raw material and energy security are becoming more and more important.”

He notes the Alba SE unit has developed extremely positively despite volatile markets in a difficult environment, and that its business result for 2022 was above plan. The board therefore sees promising long-term development prospects and announced that the group will continue to invest in and develop its 21 steel and metal sites.

Christian Koehl Germany

The administrative tribunal of Marseille has suspended the June labour inspection authority’s order to idle ArcelorMittal’s steelmaking facility in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, due to excessive emissions, Kallanish notes.

On 16 June, the steelmaker was notified by the labour inspectorate of a decision to temporarily shut down the steel shop department of the Fos site. The shutdown would have also caused the shutdown of all other units. Faced with what it called “a disproportionate” and “totally unfounded” decision, ArcelorMittal has been working to avoid a plant stoppage and appealed to the Marseille tribunal (see Kallanish 28 June).

In the court document obtained by Kallanish, the judge says the closure of the site would generate considerable short and medium-term costs, “as well as a risk for the complex steel plant for which a shutdown process would take several weeks … Following exchanges with the labour inspectorate, the company has already implemented a certain number of measures”.

The steelmaker has also planned works in the short term to reduce pollution and has vowed to implement a feasibility study to modernise its steelmaking process to limit dust emissions. The judge concluded that the immediate shutdown of the steelworks “seriously undermines the freedom of trade and industrial activities”.

ArcelorMittal did not comment before press deadline.

Natalia Capra France

Heavy downpours have resulted in substantial damage to workplaces, houses and vehicles in several cities along the Black Sea coast of Turkey, with major mills Kardemir, Erdemir and Mescier nevertheless unaffected, according to market participants.

“The flood will affect the logistics operations because the Zonguldak-İstanbul and Zonguldak-Ankara highways have closed,” according to one participant.

On 9 July, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) of Turkey issued red alerts for 16 provinces nationwide to minimise the impact of severe rainfall, according to local media. The Zonguldak Eregli region was under water in a video published on the social media account of a trader and seen by Kallanish.

Crude steel producers were not affected, only warehouses, steel service centres and some re-rollers, according to market participants.

“There is a river at Ereğli which has some branch. Last weekend, it saw heavy rain and the dams overloaded; after that, the local authorities decided to open the dam gate. Then, near the river branch where many mills are located, the area came under water. Roads, houses, mills and steel service centres near the riverside are in the dangerous [zone] now. It will take 10-15 days for normal life to resume,” says one source.

There was no damage to the Mescier plant, but transportation is highly affected and vessels are unable to arrive at and exit ports, according to a market participant. Another source says those ports are used by small re-rollers in the Karabuk region, which mostly use them to import Russian billet and for limited export activity. No significant impact is expected on operations.

“There should be either no effect [from the flooding], or for a very short period, 1-2 days, after which it will settle,” a major producer source tells Kallanish.

“Cities and many villages are destroyed. I don’t know if something happened at the ports, but while cities and all their people are trying to survive there, we can’t expect a regular work flow, [including] in the ports,” a trading source observes.

“[Logistics operations in the] Karabuk region and local land roads are impacted; at the same time, there is not much effect on the steel market,” another trading source notes.

“Some steel service centre companies are affected, but we don’t know the full scale and possible effect at the moment,” a steel service centre representative opines.

“A few warehouses seem affected and I guess [affected material is] easily substitutable; all were commercial items,” a trader notes.

As of Monday, there was no impact on steel prices from the flooding damage. However, both flat and long steel prices were under pressure in general from last week’s semis price decrease by Kardemir and lower import prices, according to market participants.

Burcak Alpman Turkey , Elina Virchenko UAE

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Europe were unchanged on July 7 as market activity remained limited.

Demand remained limited due to combination of sufficient stocks of some distributors, slow demand from end-users as well as uncertain price trend. A seasonal slowdown in the second half of summer has also continued to the market lull.

Traded volumes have been limited due to restocking of smaller tonnages, sources said.

“There is some market activity, as some buyers book to avoid future shortage and logistics issues in September,” a service-center source said. “They just want to get some volumes to make sure that they have needed material after summer maintenances.”

The combination of scheduled maintenances at some mills and unplanned production issues at other plants would support the domestic prices. However, the reduction of availability is unlikely to be enough to result in a substantial price recovery, sources said.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur680/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 7, unchanged on day.

Market participants have reported tradable values at Eur660-690/mt ex-works Ruhr, with the majority of the data heard at Eur670-690/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in South Europe stable on day at Eur660/mt ex-works Italy on July 7.

Tradable values have been reported at Eur650-670/mt ex-works Italy.

Europe-based buyers have been holding back from import coil purchases due to long lead times and uncertain price trends. In addition, the number of offers available in Europe have been limited.

Offers of Asian HRC have been heard at Eur610-630/mt CIF Antwerp and at Eur610/mt CIF Italy.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Author Maria Tanatar

Italian re-rollers have been targeting higher prices for heavy plate prices in the week to July 7, after large distributors had restocked earlier this month.

“Italian buyers booked significant volumes, and now the mills have sold out July and majority of August rolling plate,” an Italian source said.

Platts assessed domestic heavy plate prices for heavy plate in South Europe up Eur15/mt on the week to Eur760/mt ex-works on July 7.

Delas have been reported at Eur750-770/mt ex-works Italy and offers have been heard at Eur770-780/mt ex-works Italy.

Market sources believe that the Italian re-rollers will target to reach Eur800/mt ex-works Italy or higher in the next round of deals.

In Northwest Europe, German mills continued to focus on long-term contracts and project supplies and they had limited volumes of plate to offer in the spot market.

Platts assessed domestic prices for heavy plate in Northwest Europe at Eur860/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 7, up Eur15/mt on the week.

Limited volumes of heavy plate from German mills have been offered at Eur860-880/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Author Maria Tanatar

German steel traders and producers expect steel prices to increase during July, according to data from an S&P Global Commodity Insights survey.

The July index for traders’ sentiment stood around 41.67 points, compared with 33.33 points in June, data from S&P Global’s German Steel Sentiment Survey showed. The index for producers’ sentiment was around 50 points, compared with a June index of 20 points, indicating that producers were more bullish on the near-term price trends. The overall index for prices was at about 45.83 points, up from 26.67 points for June.

On the long steel side, sources expected prices to increase in the near term despite weak demand in the market ahead of the upcoming summer holidays, as steelmakers tried to manage high costs.

“Prices have bottomed out. Even if scrap corrects itself by Eur5-10/mt it will not be sufficient to support lower prices. And I don’t think that mills can sell at lower prices anymore,” one long steel producer said.

The Platts assessment of Northwest Europe Rebar increased Eur10/mt week on week to July 5 to Eur580/mt ex-works. Platts’ assessment of European medium sections price (category 1, S235 JR) was up by Eur20 week on week July 5 to Eur820/mt delivered. Platts is part of S&P Global.

In flat steel, market activity was slow both on seasonal factors and sufficient stocks of distributors. The combination of scheduled maintenance at some mills and unplanned production issues at other plants was expected to support the domestic prices. However, the reduction of availability is unlikely to be enough to result in a substantial price recovery, market sources said.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur680/mt EXW Ruhr July 6, down Eur5 from July 5.

The overall index for German inventory sentiment decreased month on month, reflecting the market’s expectation of lower inventory levels in July, with an index of about 43.33 points, compared with about 49.17 points in June. The index for steel producers for July was around 45 points, compared with 40 points in June. The index for traders’ sentiment stood at 41.67 points for July, compared with 58.33 points in June, indicating that traders and stockholders were more bearish and expecting a significant drop in inventory levels.

One long steel producer expected inventory levels to remain stable during the month of July, adding that customers are only buying what they needed and were not particularly focused on restocking activity ahead of the summer holidays.

Market expects production levels to decrease

Sources expected production in July to soften month on month. The index for production outlook was around 16.67 points for July, down from 35.83 points for June. The index for traders’ sentiment was around 8.33 points, compared with an index of 41.67 points in June. The index for producers’ sentiment was around 25 points, compared with a June index of 30 points, indicating that traders and stockholders were more bearish on near-term production levels in the market.

European steelmakers were expected to close facilities for planned maintenance during the summer holidays affecting the overall production levels in the market. Meanwhile, some steelmakers were also planning ad-hoc stoppages in efforts to control costs and balance the supply and demand situation in the market

“Normal maintenance breaks are planned for the third week of July so that might lower production levels. But that would be normal for this time of year,” one long steel producer said.

Author Rabia Arif

Prices of stainless steel flat products in Europe are showing signs of approaching a floor, largely due to reduced supply, industry sources told Fastmarkets on Friday July 7.Stainless steel mills in Europe are understood to have been operating at significantly reduced rates during the second quarter because of poor demand and low prices.

Fastmarkets’ monthly assessment of stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 transaction domestic, delivered North Europe was €2,500-2,600 ($2,717-2,826) per tonne on Friday, widening downward by €50 from €2,550-2,600 per tonne one month earlier.

In addition to the reduced supply, stabilizing stainless steel scrap prices have been a factor in the stainless steel prices approaching the bottom, the source added.

Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for stainless steel scrap 18/8 solids import, cif main European port was €1,120-1,170 per tonne on Friday, widening downward by €30 from €1,150-1,170 per tonne one week prior, but up from the low point of the year of €1,070-1,120 per tonne on June 23.

Following months of decline, these factors hint at a potential shift in market dynamics. Stainless steel mills’ unwillingness to sell below a certain level has reduced negotiations with distributors to a minimum.

“Production will see a contraction and the lower availability of material will keep the price from decreasing,” a distributor said.

With the industry heading into the traditionally slow summer months, attention is turning towards the anticipated return of demand in September.

“The [end-user] price will gradually reach more reasonable levels for the distributor, who will be able to start rebuilding his margin. Due to lower availability, special steels could see their price increase more clearly,” the distributor added.

Fastmarket’s monthly stainless steel cold-rolled sheet 2mm grade 304 alloy surcharge domestic, Europe was €2,382-2,403 per tonne on Friday, down from €2,506-2,518 per tonne one month earlier.

Surcharges for July will typically be based on alloy component costs between May 20 and June 21, when the average three-month daily official nickel price on the London Metal Exchange was $21,544 per tonne, a $1,732-per-tonne decline from $23,276 per tonne one month earlier.

Published by: Zdravko Cherkezov