Suppliers were heard to be withholding offers June 24, preferring to negotiate with buyers on receipt of firm bids, though ready to grant additional discounts in order to secure volumes.
Platts assessed hot-rolled coil down Eur5/mt June 24 at Eur855/mt ex-works Ruhr.
In the Northern market, price indications on tradable value were heard on a range of Eur850-860/mt ex-works Ruhr, from both buy- and sell-side sources. A service center source reported offers at Eur860/mt ex-works Ruhr, alongside a lower offer from the Benelux region at Eur830/mt ex-works Northern Europe.
“Demand remains very poor,” a trader source said. “Mills are begging for orders and aim to reduce production as much as possible.”
Alongside the idling of blast furnaces by ArcelorMittal, US Steel Kosice reportedly mothballed the smallest of their three blast furnaces, in line with source expectations of further production cuts for the near term.
Production cuts have been repeatedly stressed by sources as necessary to match output levels to currently cratered demand.
In the South, prices were stable on the day, assessed at Eur790/mt ex-works Italy, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
— Benjamin Steven, Maria Tanatar
