European domestic hot-rolled coil prices inched higher on Feb. 11, as market participants continued to report higher mill offer levels and discuss the ramifications of the new tariffs on US steel and aluminum imports.
“The last time Trump was President he did this, but then some countries ended up on a quota, so let’s see what will happen,” said one service center source. “Market activity is ok, we are seeing some changes, but many are still waiting, perhaps expecting prices to go up.”
Other sources continued to offer bullish expectations for domestic HRC prices in North Europe, citing higher mill offers for Q2 at as high as Eur660/mt ex-works Ruhr. However, they highlighted some resistance to price increases from mid-stream buyers and the potential for greater European supply due to the new tariffs.
Eurofer described the new tariffs as a “radical escalation of the trade war” that, “will worsen the situation of the European steel industry,” in a press release on Feb. 11.
A second service center source said, “We will see more protectionism from the US and we need to protect ourselves, as Europe and Germany especially have always been a big exporter to the US, at the moment we have to react day by day.”
Talking about wider market dynamics, the same source said, “The lead times for all the mills I have spoken to now extending to April, so there is not much pressure to drop prices, but visibility into Q2 still is not great, and real utilization remains a problem.”
Discussing imports, one source referred to limited interest due to the increased “risk for more taxes and duties.”
A distributor also referred to wider buyer hesitancy in the Italian market due to, “regulatory uncertainty”, and limited interest in imports until the European Commission finalizes the steel safeguards review.
Platts assessed the North European domestic HRC price at Eur595/mt ex-works Ruhr, up Eur2.50 on the day, and the South European domestic HRC price at Eur590/mt ex-works Italy, up by Eur5 on the day.
Platts assessed imported HRC prices in Northwest Europe at Eur545/mt CIF Antwerp and Southern Europe at Eur545/mt CIF Italy, both flat on the day.
