European producers maintained high offers for cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil during the week to Wednesday February 1, citing good order books and limited availability, and buyers resisted higher prices due to still-slow end-user demand, sources told Fastmarkets.
Buying interest in CRC and HDG in Europe was limited during the assessment week, since buyers seemed to be digesting the recent price rises.
“End-users are not willing to accept higher prices [for CRC and HDG], so it’s ‘wait-and-see’ in the market,” a steel service center told Fastmarkets. “We are only booking what is strictly necessary.”
CRC offer prices were heard at €880-900 ($955-976) per tonne EXW, and HDG offer prices were reported at €900-930 per tonne EXW for April delivery.
European mills have gradually sold out first-quarter volumes of CRC and HDG and were therefore not hungry for orders.
Buyers reported tradeable values of €850-870 per tonne EXW for CRC and €860-900 per tonne for HDG.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel CRC domestic, exw Northern Europe was €860-880 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €30 per tonne from €830-850 per tonne on January 25.
Fastmarkets’ corresponding weekly price assessment for steel HDG domestic, exw Northern Europe was €870-900 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €30-40 per tonne from €840-850 per tonne on January 25.
Both assessments were a reflection of the lower end of offers, rare deals, and estimates of achievable prices made in the week to February 1.
Southern Europe
In Southern Europe, CRC offers were heard at €880 per tonne EXW, and HDG offers in the region were heard at €900 per tonne EXW.
Italy-origin CRC was offered to Germany at €900 per tonne CPT during the week, and HDG at €930 per tonne CPT.
Mills in the region reported increased numbers of inquiries from buyers during the assessment week, but traded volumes remained limited, they said, since buyers were resisting higher offers.
Notably, buyers estimated tradable values for CRC at €830-850 per tonne EXW and at €850-870 per tonne EXW.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel CRC domestic exw Southern Europe was €850-870 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €30-40 per tonne from €820-830 per tonne seven days before.
The corresponding weekly price assessment for steel HDG domestic exw Southern Europe was €870-880 per tonne on February 1, up by €30-40 per tonne from €830-850 per tonne seven days before.
Both assessments were a reflection of the lower end of offers, rare deals, and estimates of achievable prices made in the week to February 1.
Given the bullish sentiment in the domestic market, European buyers started to show interest in overseas bookings. Import offers, however, were limited, and most suppliers could offer April shipment at the earliest.
Late in the week to January 27, a booking of South Korea-origin CRC was heard at €820 per tonne CFR to Southern Europe. But as of January 31, offers from Southeast Asian suppliers had already been reported at €850-870 per tonne CFR
CRC with March shipment from Turkey was offered to Southern Europe at €960 per tonne CFR, according to two buyer sources. But the price was completely unworkable for the European market, sources said.
There were also few import HDG offers.
Sources reported only one offer during the assessment week, for 0.5 mm HDG from Vietnam at around €900-910 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
