Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was €578.33 ($673.67) per tonne on September 5, down slightly by €0.42 per tonne from €578.75 per tonne on Thursday September 4.
The Northern European index was stable week on week but up by €18.15 per tonne month on month.
Trading remained muted in the region, with transaction prices for steel trending below target offers.
“We purchased slightly more [HRC] in end-July/early August, when European mills started raising prices, so there is no immediate need for bookings,” a distributor in Germany told Fastmarkets.
Most buyer sources estimated achievable prices at €570-580 per tonne ex-works, with transactions for October delivery HRC mainly reported within this range.
This was in contrast to offers at €600-630 per tonne ex-works for October and November delivery HRC in Germany, the Benelux area and Nordic states.
Leading European mills were heard to be aiming for €630 per tonne ex-works for November and €650 per tonne ex-works for December delivery HRC.
But sources pointed out that November and December offers were not yet announced officially`, and were rather “a price idea” so far.
October offers from suppliers still stood at €610 per tonne ex-works.
On Friday, several sources said that €600 per tonne delivered (around €580-585 per tonne ex-works) was achieved in deals in Poland.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €550.73 per tonne on Friday, up by €3.23 per tonne from €547.50 per tonne on Thursday.
The index was up by €9.06 per tonne week on week and up by €15.73 per tonne month on month.
Italy’s HRC market was also waking up slowly after the summer lull, with only sporadic trading reported in the week to September 5.
But local mills were also aiming to get higher prices. Notably, target offers were reported at around €570-585 per tonne ex-works from integrated mills and re-rollers for October-November delivery HRC.
One European mill was offering October delivery HRC at €600 per tonne delivered.
Buyers, however, said they were not in a hurry to make new bookings, sitting on sufficient stocks. They estimated tradeable values at €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
Lack of new imports due to the looming implementation of CBAM and new steel safeguard measures was considered to be the major driver behind producers’ bullishness, while real demand was still stable at low levels, sources said.
Offers from Turkey, meanwhile, remained around €520-540 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty.
From India, offers were reported at €520-530 per tonne CFR for October-November shipment of HRC.
