In Northern Europe, only the Netherlands remained working on Friday, while all other countries celebrated Mary’s Assumption.
Market participants in the Netherlands reported that offers still varied within the range of €590-610 ($687.37-710.67) per tonne ex-works.
Their estimates of workable prices remained within the range of €550-580 per tonne ex-works, in line with recent deals heard in the market.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €569.17 per tonne on Thursday, down by €0.41 per tonne from €569.58 per tonne on August 14.
The Northern European index was down by €6.46 per tonne week on week, but up by €21.67 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was also silent due to the traditional holidays and maintenance periods in August.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy was €537.50 per tonne on Friday, stable day on day.
The Italian index was down by €13.75 per tonne week on week, but up by €13.54 per tonne month on month.
Prices for domestic HRC in Central Europe showed signs of growth this week, despite sluggish demand during the holiday period, sources told Fastmarkets.
“At the moment, the market remains very calm, but we are seeing slight increases in prices,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.
The source added that “little capacity” caused by the closure of some blast furnaces in the region contributed to the price increase.
This week, offers were heard hovering at €545-565 per tonne ex-works, compared with offers at €540-565 per tonne ex-works heard at the end of July.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Central Europe was €545-565 per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing upward by €10 from €535-565 per tonne the previous week.
