The index was also up by €36.25 per tonne week on week and by €45.25 per tonne month on month.
Offer prices from major integrated mills in Northern Europe were heard at €800 per tonne ex-works for April-delivery HRC.
Producers in Europe claimed to be largely sold out for March-delivery volumes and therefore felt no urgency to secure sales, sources said.
Buyers, however, considered new offer levels “unworkable” in the current market conditions, with real steel demand being unsupportive of such a massive rise.
“Demand from automotive and construction sectors is very underwhelming. So, I don’t think €800 is even close to reality, even with all supply tightness in place,” a steel-service center source in Germany said.
Buyers estimated achievable levels for HRC in the region at €710-750 per tonne ex-works.
Rare sales were heard in Germany at €720-740 per tonne ex-works.
Deals were sporadic, and mainly for small tonnages of HRC, since buyers had doubts about sustainability of the price uptrend.
“I think €730-750 maximum is an achievable level [for HRC] in the next restocking round. And we really don’t expect booming restocking – we are not going to buy a single tonne [of HRC] more than necessary. I believe this is the attitude among stockholders in general,” a stockholder in Northern Europe said.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €720.00 per tonne on January 11, increasing by €5 per tonne from €715.00 per tonne on January 10.
The index was up by €30.42 per tonne week on week and by €51.67 per tonne month on month.
Trading still was largely on pause in Italy in the week starting January 8, with buyers and sellers seen assessing the market situation.
Several seller sources estimated the market at €770-780 per tonne delivered (€755-765 per tonne ex-works) with March delivery said to still be available from some sellers. Firm offers were still rare though.
Buyers, meanwhile, were pegged the market at €700-720 per tonne ex-works.
“We need to see prices for processed coil in the secondary market pick up first, it’s moving quite slowly,” a buyer source said.
In the secondary market, HR sheet was traded around €800 per tonne CPT at the highest, compared to €780 per tonne CPT in late December.
“To accept prices of even €740-750 per tonne ex-works for HRC, steel-service centers need to sell HR sheets at least at €830-850 per tonne CPT,” a second buyer source said.
