European buyers start accepting higher prices for Q1 HRC

European hot-rolled coil buyers have started to accept higher prices, but bookings have been mainly for small volumes, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday December 12.Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €632.93 ($666.10) per tonne on Monday, up by €5.68 from €627.25 per tonne on Friday December 9.

The latest calculation of the index was up by €0.43 per tonne week on week, but down by €12.07 per tonne month on month.

Offers from mills in the region were heard within the range of €650-700 per tonne EXW, for January-February rolling coil, sources said.

Transactions for small volumes were heard at €630 per tonne EXW, but several buyers said that €650 per tonne EXW was also a tradeable level.

One trading source reported bids at €600 per tonne EXW for HRC in the region, but other market sources said producers were not accepting prices that low anymore.

“We’ve passed the rock bottom; now there’s more activity on the market and there are less import offers,” the trading source said.

Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was €627.50 per tonne on Monday, up by €6.25 per tonne from €621.25 per tonne on Friday.

The latest calculation of the index was down by €5.83 per tonne week on week, but up by €2.50 per tonne month on month.

Offers from Italian mills were reported at €630-650 per tonne EXW, while buyer estimates of tradeable values were at €620-640 per tonne EXW.

Italian mills were able to offer coil with February delivery, Fastmarkets heard.

One source reported an assessment of achievable levels at €600 per tonne EXW, but this was not widely confirmed by buyers or producers.

“Mills are not accepting low prices anymore; on the contrary, there is gradual push for a price rise,” one buyer source told Fastmarkets.

There is potential for more price rises before the winter holidays, according to market sources.

“The destocking phase is coming to an end and buyers will look to book HRC for [first-quarter] delivery,” another trading source said.

No fresh import HRC offers were reported on Monday, with most overseas suppliers out of the market, sources said.

In the week to December 9, HRC from India was heard offered to Italy at $620 per tonne CFR and Korea-origin HRC was offered to Italy at €640 per tonne CFR.

Published by: Julia Bolotova