European hot-rolled coil prices held steady Oct. 16 as market participants shifted their focus to the Blechexpo trade fair in Stuttgart next week.
A trader source said he expects prices to increase further after the fair, driven by EU’s CBAM carbon tariff and the European Commission’s recent safeguard proposals.
“Slowly people are starting to be aware that not buying today would be a lost opportunity,” he said. “There are not big volumes, but people are digesting higher prices.”
Offers for domestic HRC in Northern Europe were reported at Eur600/mt ex-works Ruhr. In Southern Europe, offers were reported at Eur580/mt ex-works Italy, and at Eur600/mt delivered Italy.
In the import market, market participants continued to digest the recent regulatory developments, and questioned how it would affect pricing going into the next year.
The same trader source said, “As soon as service centers realize there is going to be an import price including CBAM costs and customs duties, they will accept higher prices.”
He added that even with attractive import offers, particularly from Indonesia, cost and quota uncertainty was keeping buyers on the sidelines.
Offers for imported HRC in Southern Europe were reported at Eur520-530/mt CIF Italy for Indonesian material, inclusive of potential CBAM costs.
Turkish material was offered at Eur530/mt CIF Italy, inclusive of antidumping duties.
Platts assessed domestic HRC in Northern Europe at Eur590/mt ex-works Ruhr, and in Southern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Italy, both stable day over day.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northern Europe at Eur490/mt CIF Antwerp, and in Southern Europe at Eur485/mt CIF Southern Europe, also both unchanged day over day.
