European HRC prices dip due to weak demand

European hot-rolled coil prices were slightly weaker on Tuesday October 11, amid persistently sluggish demand – even though some producers were ready to provide discounts to fill their order books, sources told Fastmarkets. Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, ex-works Northern Europe at €718.75 ($698.15) per tonne on Tuesday, down by €8.75 per tonne from €727.50 per tonne on Monday.

The latest calculation of the index was down by €28.75 per tonne week on week and by €55.00 per tonne month on month.

Buyers indicated that an achievable price would be about €700-730 per tonne exw, with one transaction in Germany reported at €715 per tonne exw.

An offer for fourth-quarter delivery HRC from one major European steel mill was reported at €765 per tonne delivered, which nets back to about €725-735 per tonne exw. That was down by €45 per tonne from the previous offers heard at €810 per tonne delivered in mid-September, sources said.

A transaction for Italy-origin HRC to the region was reported at €750 per tonne delivered earlier this week, but for a limited tonnage.

In general, sources said that only small volumes of HRC have been traded recently, with distributors and steel service centers (SSCs) in Europe focused on reducing stocks.

“We are competing with [other SSCs] to sell costly inventories to end users, but demand is very weak. Our [HRC] sales in September were 25-30% [lower] year on year,” a source at an SSC in the region told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy was €715.00 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €7.50 per tonne from €722.50 per tonne on Monday.

The latest calculation of the Italian index was down by €33.75 per tonne week on week and by €52.50 per tonne month on month.

Sellers and buyers said a tradable level for HRC in Italy was about €700-730 per tonne exw.

Despite competitive overseas HRC offers being available, import booking were scarce due to high levels of market volatility and safeguard-related risks.

HRC from Japan and Taiwan was on offer at €670-680 per tonne cfr Italy, sources said.

And HRC was on offer from an Indonesian mill at €650 per tonne cfr Italy, with bids coming in at €625-630 per tonne cfr Italy.

Published by: Julia Bolotova