Italian heavy plate prices increased in the week to 9 October, supported by restocking activity and rising slab costs.
Deals for s235jr/s275jr heavy plate in Italy have been reported at EUR745-755/t ex-works for bigger lots of material for fourth-quarter delivery. Some transactions for smaller volumes for delivery next year have already reached EUR770-780/t ex-works.
Restocking by distributors supported the price recovery. Re-rollers, traditionally reliant on imported slab, also face mounting costs due to exchange-rate fluctuations, energy costs and transportation costs.
Market participants reported that the lowest prices achievable for Asian slabs were $590/t CIF Italy.
In addition, slab imports that are customs-cleared in the first quarter of 2027 will be affected by the evolution of the CBAM framework, which will require importers to hold certificates covering at least 50% of their rolling emissions liability before the end of each quarter. As exporter emissions verification is inherently retroactive, CBAM rules demand that this rolling liability be assessed using either default values or values equivalent to those underlying the certificates surrendered in the prior year, where origin and CN codes match. As European re-rollers are not able to surrender any CBAM certificates until declarations are due in September 2027, this 50% requirement would fundamentally have to be assessed using higher default values.
While importers would be able to recover the cost of excess CBAM certificates purchased against default values if more competitive actual emissions values were successfully verified, the working capital burden would still be significant. As an example, the per-tonne default value cost of a 2027 Chinese slab import could reach EUR200/t at current EU carbon prices of around EUR80/t.
German steelmakers, in the meantime, continued to focus on long-term contracts and projects, limiting their presence in the spot market. Offers for s235jr-grade material were reported at EUR850-890/t ex-works Germany.
A Northwest European re-roller settled deals for s355jr plate within the region at EUR860/t delivered, compared with offers from competitors at EUR880-890/t delivered.
| Weekly European heavy plate, slab and green steel | |||||
| Unit | Term | 09-Oct-26 | Change | ||
| Weekly heavy plate | |||||
| Northwest Europe ex-works heavy plate | EUR/t | EX-WORKS | 860.00 | 0.00 | |
| Germany delivered heavy plate (Northwest Europe) | EUR/t | DEL | 860.00 | -20.00 | |
| Italy ex-works heavy plate | EUR/t | EX-WORKS | 750.00 | 5.00 | |
| Weekly steel slab | |||||
| Italy CFR slab | $/t | CFR | 590.00 | 5.00 | |
| Weekly green steel | |||||
| Green heavy plate premium (scopes 1-3 CO2 under 1t) | EUR/t | 25.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Source: McCloskey by OPIS. | © 2026 Dow Jones Energy Limited. | ||||
Author: Benjamin Steven
