In Northern Europe, most recent bookings were done at €620-625 ($727.30-733.16) per tonne ex-works, while offers for February and March delivery volumes varied within €640-670 per tonne ex-works range, depending on producer, they added.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was €623.75 ($731.70) per tonne on December 19, stable day on day.
The index was up by €2.08 per tonne week on week and by €10.24 per tonne month on month.
Bullish mill sentiment is largely down to the imminent introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from January 1, 2026.
The CBAM regulations are expected to have significant impact on import prices because of the recently increased final default emissions values, compared with the draft version in November.
Meanwhile, sources reported some progress in long-term contracts negotiations between mills and the automotive sector.
For the first half year of 2026, a number of contracts were sealed with €30-50 per tonne year-on-year increases on average, to around “€700 per tonne,” sources told Fastmarkets.
“Automotive was fighting for a decrease [for long-term contracts], but the balance of power in the market shifted to the producers – with CBAM limiting import options and new regulations promoting green steel use,” a buyer in Germany said.
The Italian domestic HRC market was also quiet on December 19.
Offers for February-delivery HRC were heard at €610-640 per tonne ex-works, depending on supplier, with workable prices estimated at €610-620 per tonne ex-works.
“\I met an Italian customer yesterday [who] told me demand was very, very, very low,” a service center source told Fastmarkets. “The daily market is completely dead, he said [and] he thinks it will be no better in the first quarter of 2026.”
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated unchanged at €613.75 per tonne on Friday.
The index was up by €2.5 per tonne week on week and by €12.08 per tonne month on month.
