European hot-rolled coil steel prices fell slightly on Wednesday August 13, with prices still below target offers, sources told Fastmarkets.
Mills were trying to raise their October offer prices, sources said, looking to achieve prices of around €590-610 per tonne ex-works.
But market participants estimated the workable level for HRC at about €560-570 per tonne ex-works on Wednesday.
Factors still having an impact on liquidity include the current summer holiday slowdown and European mills awaiting new regulatory changes, due to be implemented in early 2026, sources said.
“Integrated mills are trying to push [for higher] offers for the third quarter of the year, but I haven’t seen any willingness to buy at those [higher] prices,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.
“Mills are looking to see what will happen with imports when the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism] (CBAM) comes into effect in January, especially in terms of imports from China,” the source addedd.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €569.33 per tonne on August 13, down by €1.68 per tonne from €571.01 per tonne on August 12.
The Northern European index was up by €1.83 per tonne week on week and by €23.08 per tonne month on month.
And prices for overseas coil edged up slightly over the past week.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Northern Europe, was €465-510 per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing up from €460-510 per tonne the previous week.
In Italy, meanwhile, trading activity was close to non-existent amid the ongoing holiday season.
It remains to be seen whether target offers of €540-550 per tonne ex-works from local suppliers at the end of July – ahead of summer closures – will be sealed in deals and so far this month, buyer estimates of achievable prices varied between €520 per tonne and €540 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources, however, suggested, that local suppliers might even revise their offers higher, given the price recovery in Northern Europe and the increase in imported HRC prices.
“In Italy, the holiday season is in full swing and hardly any [HRC] is being traded. We will see where the price [for HRC] stands in September,” a buyer source said.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was €536.67 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €3.33 per tonne compared with €540.00 per tonne on Tuesday.
The Italian index was, however, up by €1.67 per tonne week on week and up by €10.84 per tonne month on month.
Prices for overseas coil were also up in the week to Wednesday.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Southern Europe, was €460-520 per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing up from €450-520 per tonne a week earlier.
The lower end of the range reflected bids and the latest transactions for Indonesian material, with new offers from Indonesia heard at around €470-475 per tonne CFR Italy.
The upper end of the range reflected the lowest offers from Turkey and India, meanwhile.
Overseas suppliers were able to offer end-September and early October shipment, sources told Fastmarkets.
Julia Bolotova, Davide Montagner
