CBAM officially launched on January 1, and the products named above, among others, will become more expensive with the cost of the necessary certificates being added to the actual price of the material.
Moreover, there was still a lot of uncertainty over how import activity will be affected by the mechanism, which has pushed market participants to delay buying activity.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €700 ($816) per tonne on January 8, compared with €650-730 per tonne on January 2.
The assessment was in line with a deal heard agreed by a German supplier during the assessment week.
In Italy, fresh business was heard within the range of €670-690 per tonne ex-works, and offers heard as high as €700 per tonne ex-works on January 8. Before Christmas, workable prices were hovering in the range of €660-680 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was €670-690 per tonne on January 8, up from €650-680 per tonne on January 2.
“Customers will need more material from European suppliers,” an Italian producer told Fastmarkets, speaking in support of the upward trend.
Import
Import markets for both slab and plate were extremely quiet in the reporting week, with buyers returning gradually after holidays and trying to gauge the situation.
“Europeans are beginning to make inquiries [for slabs] but they will not pay more than $485 per tonne CFR,” one trader said, adding that Asian suppliers were still asking a minimum of $500 per tonne CFR for their material.
“We will see where [the price] settles next week when someone buys,” he added.
“I have not started any offers yet. [I am] looking for the demand first,” a source trading Asian slab to Europe said.
A third source reported offers of Asian material varying within the range of $500-520 per tonne CFR.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel slab, import, cif Italy, was $485-520 per tonne on January 8, versus €500-520 per tonne on January 2.
Market sources said that buyers would be looking for discounts to offset the cost of CBAM certificates.
