European hot-rolled coil prices were holding ground on Friday August 29, with sources expecting more clarity on the direction of prices in the coming weeks, Fastmarkets heard.
Producers in Northern Europe achieved some price rises in recent weeks, with deals rising from rock bottom levels in June and July.
Notably, HRC with October lead times was heard traded at €570-580 ($665.79-667.37) per tonne ex-works recently.
On Friday, most buyer sources estimated achievable prices at €580 per tonne ex-works.
At the same time, target offers of €600-630 per tonne ex-works for October-November lead times were still considered “unrealistic” by local buyers amid a lack of demand.
One Italian supplier was offering October-delivery HRC at €610-620 per tonne delivered to Germany, with no sales reported at these levels so far.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €578.33 per tonne on Friday, down by €1.05 per tonne from €579.38 per tonne the previous day.
The Northern European index was down by €4.58 per tonne week on week and up by €20.00 month on month.
European suppliers maintained higher offers, despite pushback from customers and stable end-user demand.
Sources said the uptrend was mainly backed by expectations of reduced import availability and higher costs of import steel in general due to the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and new trade measures to replace safeguards.
“Now mills in Asia are offering October shipment and there is a chance that material will fail to arrive in December, therefore falling under the scope of CBAM in January 2026,” a buyer in the Benelux area told Fastmarkets.
The source estimated that imported coil will be €50-70 per tonne more expensive when CBAM comes into force.
Another source said that mills were also bullish due to looming long-term contracts negotiations with end users.
“The gap between long-term and spot prices is enormous now; it’s over €120. So mills are trying to push spot levels higher to have a better position in negotiations,” a German buyer said.
Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy was €541.67 per tonne on Friday, stable day on day.
The Italian index was up by €0.84 per tonne week on week and by €13.54 per tonne month on month.
Many stakeholders were still on holiday and expected to return in September.
Integrated mills and re-rollers in Italy were targeting €570-580 per tonne ex-works for October tonnages. Estimates of achievable prices were heard between €540 and €550 per tonne ex-works.
Prices for overseas coil were also largely unmoved.
HRC from Indonesia was on offer to Italy around €470-475 per tonne CFR, sources said, but buying interest was minimal due to regulatory uncertainty.
Meanwhile, offers from Turkey remained at around €520-540 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty.
HRC from India was on offer to Italy at €520-525 per tonne CFR.
