European heavy plate round-up: EU plate prices stable, demand from projects healthy

The European heavy plate market traded sideways in the week to 20 February, with project-based ordering underpinning longer-term support for the market, and interesting dynamics on input slab purchasing.

In North Europe, heavy plate price indications clustered around EUR750/t ex-works for s235 grade, and at around EUR800/t delivered for s355 grade. Offers for s235 grade were generally heard in closer proximity to the settlement price, while offers for s355 ex-Germany and Austria ranged between EUR830-880/t delivered. Offers from Central Europe were said to be targeting the same EUR800/t delivered price, generally considered the tradable level for s355 grade into Germany at present.

Import offers were heard to Antwerp at EUR780/t DDP ex-India for s355 grade, and to the Italian market at EUR630-640/t CFR ex-India for s275 grade.

The Italian market appears similarly stable to North Europe, as reported by both buy- and sell-side sources. Deals for spot volumes were heard in a range of EUR710-730/t ex-works, and project-based deals at around EUR750/t ex-works. Project buyers are requesting extended lead times into the final quarter of 2027, supporting producers but doing little to fill immediate orderbooks.

That said, near-term demand wasn’t viewed as too much of an issue, with activity described as “ongoing – but not fantastic,” by an Italian trader.

Indications for input slab costs for Italian re-rollers were reported stable at around $510/t CFR from India; Chinese material is currently unavailable due to the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday, but exporters are expected to return to the market with prices of around $550/t CFR Italy.

Late in the week, McCloskey reported that a single European buyer present across Europe had ordered over 300,000t of slab ex-Brazil –the majority of slab available in the Brazilian spot market – leaving almost no volumes to other buyers, including re-rollers that do not have their own semi-finished steel production.

Market participants speculated as to the motivations of the buyer, highlighting the comparatively low-risk associated with Brazilian slab imports under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), due to their competitive default values relative to other exporting origins.

As an example, a single ton of slab imported under default values from Indonesia, would threaten a CBAM cost at a 1,700% premium to Brazilian costs of around EUR30/t, or a 400% premium to Chinese, or Russian origin.