Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €631.13 ($679.62) per tonne on Thursday, up by €2.38 per tonne from €628.75 per tonne the day before
The index was up by €1.13 per tonne week on week but down by €3.29 per tonne month on month.
Trading remained quiet in the region, with both sellers and buyers trying to gauge the effects on the market of the new regime of EU safeguards that came into force at the start of this month.
“Mills and buyers are waiting to see what will happen… now that the new safeguards are in place,” a buyer in the Netherlands said. “But in general, suppliers [of HRC] are very quiet, and we expect them to come back with new, higher, prices next week.
“There was talk of base prices of €670 [per tonne ex-works] up to €690 [per tonne ex-works] for delivery in September,” the buyer added.
Buyer sources estimated the tradable value for HRC about €620-630 per tonne ex-works on Thursday. This was in line with the latest booking for July/August-delivery HRC.
Industry sources questioned the price rebound for September tonnages, claiming that end-user demand was insufficient to support any rise.
Some buyer sources, however, suggested that an increase in domestic prices could be partially accepted considering the effects of the safeguards on imports.
“New import tonnages will be subject to duty, which will push up import costs by €40-60 per tonne, offsetting the price advantage for imports. This might help European mills to get some uptick [in prices], but it’s not going to be easy,” a buyer in Germany said.
“The market is rather unpredictable at this stage. Demand is disappointing,” a second German buyer said.
Market sources pointed out that, in the secondary market, there was “a battle for tonnages” between distributors and steel service centers. Companies had high stocks of coil, a consequence of weaker-than-expected demand from the automotive industry in the first half of the year, and were becoming aggressive with prices in trying to get rid of the surplus.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy, at €623.75 per tonne on Thursday, up by €2.71 per tonne from €621.04 per tonne the day before.
But the index was down by €1.67 per tonne week on week and by €8.25 per tonne month on month.
In the Italy market, firm offers have been rare so far this week.
Local buyers estimated tradeable prices at €630-640 per tonne delivered, equivalent to €620-630 per tonne ex-works, which would be in line with trades for July/August-delivery coil.
For September deliveries, industry sources expected a €20-30 per tonne price increase.
The HRC import market in Europe remained quiet, with very few suppliers active.
“The new safeguard period has just started, [and it] looks like quotas are already being used by some suppliers, so the market is waiting,” a buyer in Italy said.
Offers of August/September-shipment coil were heard from Egypt, Indonesia and India at $610-650 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
