Italy
In Italy, offers for S275 heavy plate were reported by buyers and sellers at €660-670 ($695-706) per tonne ex-works, while transaction were heard at lower levels of €640-650 per tonne ex-works, Fastmarkets heard.
Traded volumes were still limited because buyers were monitoring the market, awaiting clarity on the safeguard measures.
Some suppliers were heard to be accepting €630 per tonne ex-works for bigger volumes, market sources said.
But most re-rollers in the region agreed that lower prices were no longer possible due to the mounting costs of production – notably, higher prices for imports of slab, the feedstock for plate production.
“Considering slab prices of $500-520 [per tonne] CIF, €650 per tonne ex-works for heavy plate is not a luxury, but necessary to break even,” a mill source told Fastmarkets.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was unchanged on Wednesday at €640-650 per tonne.
The latest weekly price assessment for steel slab, import, cif Italy, increased to $490-530 per tonne on February 28, from $480-520 per tonne on February 21.
Revised European safeguard measures were expected to come into force in April, with tougher measures widely expected, and this was tempering buying interest in overseas material, market sources said.
Nonetheless, bookings of May-shipment heavy plate from Indonesia to Spain and Italy were reported in late February at €570-580 per tonne CFR.
Northern Europe
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €690-700 per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing upward by €10 per tonne from €680-700 per tonne seven days before.
In Northern Europe, trading activity in the spot market remained limited, market sources said. Stockholders had sufficient material in stock and were not under pressure, Fastmarkets understands.
One German mill, traditionally focused on project business, was offering heavy plate with lead times of around six weeks at €750-790 per tonne ex-works.
Another German supplier was offering plate at €700-730 per tonne from one location and €680-700 per tonne from another.
Estimates of tradeable values from buyers were reported at €680-700 per tonne ex-works, with most indications coming in at €690-700 per tonne ex-works.
A re-roller in the Czech Republic was offering S275-grade plate at €670 per tonne ex-works, but mainly to locations in Central Europe. Achievable prices for such material were reported at €650-660 per tonne ex-works. The mill was well-booked and was already offering for delivery in May.
