“Buyers tend to rush bookings when prices are rising. In a falling market, there is no rush,” a trader source from Northern Europe told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €600.00 ($684.90) per tonne on Thursday, down by €0.83 per tonne day on day.
Official offers from key suppliers in Northern Europe were heard at €620 per tonne ex-works while tradeable levels were widely estimated at €590-600 per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage in discussion.
Some market sources reported estimates as low as €570-580 per tonne, referring to limited demand from key consuming industries such as automotive, chemical, construction and energy.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €581.88 per tonne on Thursday, down by €1.04 per tonne from €582.92 per tonne on Wednesday.
One market source reported that an integrated supplier was not ready to accept prices lower than €585-590 per tonne ex-works, while material from a re-roller was available €10-15 per tonne lower.
A buyer source described demand as low but stable, and predicted no price rise in the near future.
Low offers from foreign suppliers was another factor weighing on the European domestic flat steel market.
Indonesian HRC was available at €490-500 per tonne CFR to Italy for August shipment. Nevertheless, sources said that customers were cautious about booking from this origin amid rumors that Indonesia might be included in safeguard actions, or that an anti-dumping investigation might be started against the country in response to its aggressive trading behavior.
India-origin material was offered around €535-540 per tonne CFR, while Turkish coil was said to be available at €540 per tonne CFR, duty paid.
Published by: Vlada Novokreshchenova
