“Market is still quiet and there is very low demand,” a service center source said. “There is no re-stocking activity and barely any movement in the market.”
Some mills have used proposed changes to the existing safeguard measures in Europe to push their offers higher. However, market fundamentals do not support an increase in prices, sources said.
The European Commission said May 30 that it was considering a 15% cap for a single country over the Tariff Rate Quota volume for HRC initially available in each quarter. European authorities are scheduled to announce definitive measures by June 30.
As HRC imports from Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Egypt are likely to be reduced as a result of the proposed changes, Europe-based buyers will have to substitute the material with either European coil or alternative non-EU suppliers that do not have a country-specific quota.
Platts assessed domestic prices for HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur630/mt ex-works Ruhr, down Eur10 on the day.
Offers were reported at Eur620-650/mt ex-works Benelux. Tradable values were heard at Eur620-640/mt ex-works Northwest Europe. No deals have been heard.
Platts assessed domestic prices for HRC in South Europe stable on the day at Eur635/mt ex-works Italy June 10.
In addition, scheduled maintenances at EU mills during the summer are expected to provide some support to the prices.
