Weak apparent demand continued to depress sentiment in the European HRC market, with no major changes to the situation expected in late 2024-early 2025, sources said.
Offers for January-February delivery coil from integrated suppliers in the region were mainly heard at €600 ($629) per tonne ex-works.
One re-roller in northern Europe was heard offering HRC at €550 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers’ ideas of tradable values did not exceed €550-570 per tonne ex-works.
“I don’t know a single buyer who can afford to pay a price starting with ‘6’ in this market,” a distributor in Germany said.
“The European market is oversupplied; balancing output cuts are needed to alleviate the pressure on prices, but mills keep quiet,” a buyer in the Benelux area said.
An economic slowdown in the EU, notably downturn across key steel-use sectors, such as automotive and construction, was weighing on sentiment for the first quarter of 2025.
“Real demand is unlikely to recover soon. We are at the bottom of the economic cycle, with no signs of rebound in the short run,” a trading source said.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €560.00 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €4.17 per tonne from €564.17 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was also down by €1.67 per tonne week on week and up by €10.00 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €557.71 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €0.79 per tonne from €558.75 per tonne on Tuesday.
The Italian index was also down by €1.04 per tonne week on week but up by €11.46 per tonne month on month.
Several sources told Fastmarkets that they were expecting to start negotiations for January HRC purchases in the next two weeks.
Most sources were skeptical about Italian suppliers reaching the target offers of €600 per tonne delivered (€590 per tonne ex-works).
Buyer sources estimated an achievable price level to be around €570-580 per tonne delivered (€560-570 per tonne delivered).
The market for import coil was also quiet due to a mismatch between bids and offers, sources said.
HRC offers from Asian mills for January-shipment HRC were heard in the range of €555-570 per tonne CFR, and at €590-600 per tonne CFR from Turkey.
Buyers’ ideas of a workable price for imports were voiced at €520-530 per tonne CFR.
“I would consider booking at [€520-530 per tonne CFR],” a steel service center source in Italy said.
Market sources in Spain and Portugal also estimated the workable price for import coil at €520-530 per tonne CFR, adding, however, that no such offers were available in the market.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
