European domestic cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized remained largely firm in the week to Thursday August 13, having gained around €20 per tonne on average in the previous weeks.
Further upward movement is limited by high stocks of import material in ports as well as reduced activity during the traditional market slowdown at the end of summer.
In Northern Europe, basic cold-rolled coils scheduled for delivery in October onwards were available within the range of €830-850 per tonne ex-works.
A source from Germany reported deals at €825 per tonne ex-works, while another German source confirmed this figure as a tradeable level, adding that the higher end of the range targeted by the mills has yet to be seen in transactions.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil domestic, exw Northern Europe was €825-830 per tonne on August 13, narrowing down from €825-840 per tonne on August 5.
“Antwerp is full of cold-rolled coils,” the source said, explaining that availability of the competitively priced import material is still weighing down on domestic prices.
Last week, however, the European Commission announced definitive anti-dumping duties on imports of cold-rolled coil (CRC) from India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam.
While Turkey and India received duties of 5.6-9.5%, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam received duties of 16-28%, which is expected to affect shipments from these countries as, together with other limitations such as safeguard duties and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the final cost of these products may become uncompetitive.
“Formerly the buyer paid only the highest duty of all. Let’s say if the anti-dumping duty was 6% and the out-of-quota safeguard duty was 25%, the buyer paid only 25%. Now it has changed and all duties are applied together,” a German buyer said, adding that if Asian suppliers do not cut their initial price it will be difficult for them to sell to Europe.
The hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) segment was also stable with offers coming at €830-850 per tonne ex-works, while indications of tradeable level came at €820 per tonne ex-works, which was reflected in the corresponding Fastmarkets’ assessment.
The weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Northern Europe was €820-830 per tonne on August 13, stable week on week.
A market source said that mills in the region have lately been preferring to produce HDG rather than CRC, because some types of HDG can be produced directly from hot-rolled coil (HRC), skipping the CRC stage, and because the annealing process happens naturally during galvanizing, while producing CRC requires the steel to be heated and softened separately, incurring additional energy costs.
Southern Europe was comparatively quieter, with the majority of market participants on holiday.
Nevertheless, some HDG transactions came through at €830 per tonne delivered or €815 per tonne ex-works, while offers came at €825-835 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Southern Europe was €815-825 per tonne on August 14, versus €800-830 per tonne the previous week.
The most recent CRC offers in the region came at €840-850 per tonne ex-works; however, buyers found these levels elevated.
The assessment for steel cold-rolled coil domestic, exw Southern Europe was €815-825 per tonne on August 12 versus €820 per tonne on August 5.
“In September you can bet on a big jump,” a buyer from Italy said.
