Demand from the main steel-consuming sectors remained limited, with oversupply adding downward pressure to HRC prices, Fastmarkets understands.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €630.00 ($675.22) per tonne on Tuesday, down by €2.00 per tonne from €632.00 on Monday.
The index was down by €2.50 per tonne week on week and by €7.37 per tonne month on month.
Offers of HRC in Northern Europe varied between €640 per tonne ex-works and €650 per tonne ex-works, sources told Fastmarkets.
For larger volumes, however, sources said that mills in the region were likely to agree to sell at about €630 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants estimated the tradable price level at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
“Demand for HRC is still slow. Besides, the summer period is coming, when trading is not so active,” a producer source told Fastmarkets.
The source said that demand from the automotive sector was also not so good recently, with HRC purchases recently postponed, while demand from the construction sector was steady. The source added, however, htat overall sentiment was less positive.
A distributor source told Fastmarkets that negotiations between producers and consumers for the long-term half-year contracts were continuing, with consumers pushing for lower levels because spot prices for the first half of the year appeared to be €50-60 per tonne lower than long-term contract prices.
“Producers are hoping that the new [EU] safeguard measures will have some impact on the market as of the beginning of July,” the distributor source said, but added that such optimism was probably misplaced.
Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €625.00 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €2.50 per tonne from €627.50 per tonne the previous day.
The Italian index was down by €4.58 per tonne week on week and by €5.00 per tonne month on month.
Suppliers in Italy were heard offering HRC at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which nets back to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
But market participants put the workable price at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Demand in Italy also remained weak, sources told Fastmarkets.
In terms of flat steel imports, from the start of July there will be more clarity on the EU safeguard taxes, which will need to be paid by Asian suppliers, including Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
