Local hot-rolled coil prices in Europe extended gains on Friday March 13 amid a mix of factors such as limited supply, increased costs as well as import curbs.
In Northern Europe offers from integrated mills and re-rollers for May and in some cases.
June-delivery coils varied within the range of €700-735 ($807.34-841.94) per tonne ex-works versus €690-735 per tonne ex-works a day earlier.
Market sources reported market leaders achieved €720-730 per tonne in deals for minor tonnages amid limited supply.
Meanwhile, a source from Germany said that several local supplier continued to stay out of the market due to the recent rise in energy and fuel costs triggered by the aftermaths of the US-Iran conflict.
The same source reported some improvement in buying in the recent days caused by expectations of further price rises.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €713.57 ($822.99) per tonne on Friday, up by €6.38 per tonne from €707.19 per tonne on March 12.
The index was up by €13.57 per tonne week on week and by €57.74 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €692.50 per tonne ex-works on March 13, stable day on day.
The index was up by €11.67 per tonne week on week and by €45.00 per tonne month on month.
Offers from local suppliers came at €695-700 per tonne ex-works, while buyers estimated the market levels at €680-690 per tonne ex-works.
Import continued to be restricted by a number of factors such as higher costs which followed the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) earlier this year, concerns over reduced import availability in the second half of the year due to new safeguards as well as increased transportation costs and timing, which followed the US-Iran conflict.
