Market participants had expected European mills to push for higher prices for September-delivery material – mainly due to the lack of cheap imports since new EU safeguard measures entered into force in July 1.
Even August-delivery material was on offer at slightly higher prices, with some mills aiming for €650 per tonne ex-works.
In Northern Europe, offers were mostly reported at €640-650 (693-704) per tonne ex-works on Monday, sources told Fastmarkets.
But buyers were still reluctant to accept these levels, estimating the tradable level at closer to €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €633.75 on Monday, up by €2.75 per tonne from €631.00 per tonne on July 5.
The index was up by €5.00 per tonne week on week but remained unchanged month on month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €626.25 per tonne on Monday, up by €2.15 per tonne from €624.10 per tonne on July 5.
The index was up by €6.25 per tonne week on week, but down by €4.58 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, sources said that HRC was on offer at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which nets back to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Some buyers also estimated the tradable price at this level, but most put the workable price at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
“The market is very quiet,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets, adding that offers from Asia were very scarce.
Many suppliers from Asia exceeded their EU import quotas for the third quarter in the first few days of July.
“Thus, some buyers might decide to custom clear only this part of the already delivered material, for which it will not be necessary to pay duty,” a buyer source said, adding that any further supplies of HRC might remain in stock at customs.
A second buyer source told Fastmarkets that the workable market level for Turkish HRC was still at $580 per tonne FOB, which nets back to €615-620 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Offers from India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea were reported at €600-610 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
