European HRC prices hold steady in slow market

Hot-rolled coil prices across Europe remained broadly flat on Tuesday July 23, with thin trading in the spot market due to a seasonal slowdown and weak consumption, sources told Fastmarkets.
In Northern Europe, integrated mills were heard offering September-delivery HRC in the range of €625-650 ($680-708) per tonne ex-works. Some suppliers still had late-August delivery coil available, sources said.

Buyers remained at the sidelines, only booking what was strictly necessary, Fastmarkets heard.

Transactions for small tonnages of HRC were reported at €625 per tonne ex-works in Germany, in line with buyers’ estimations of tradeable prices at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.

“Stocks are sufficient at most buyers, and demand [from end users] remains on the low side,” a buyer in Germany said.

Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €628.25 per tonne on Tuesday, down by just €0.75 per tonne from €629.00 per tonne on Monday July 22.

The index was down by €3.00 per tonne week on week and by €1.75 per tonne month on month.

Sources said that, for October-delivery HRC, European mills were targeting higher offers at €660-670 per tonne ex-works.

But most industry sources told Fastmarkets they questioned the possibility of a price rebound, considering a lack of demand and oversupply in the market.

“The capacity utilization rate at most EU mills is no higher than 70%, even lower than that at some producers — and nobody misses the volumes [of HRC],” a mill source in Europe said. “And ports are full of imported HRC.”

Sources agreed that domestic prices were unlikely to decrease further.

“Mills have to be cautious of costs. And import pressure has alleviated with new safeguards in place — yes, there is still plenty of import [HRC] at the ports, but prices are mostly in line or only slightly below European [prices]. That supports the [low end of domestic HRC prices],” a second producer source said.

Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €621.25 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €0.42 per tonne from €621.67 on Monday.

The index was up by €1.25 per tonne week on week but down by €7.50 per tonne month on month.

September-delivery coil was still widely available from Italian and other European suppliers, with offers reported at €640-650 per tonne delivered (€630-640 per tonne ex-works).

Buyers in Italy reported bids at €610-620 per tonne ex-works.

Buyers and sellers reported estimations of tradeable prices at €620-640 per tonne ex-works, depending on the volume.

Trading in the country remained thin, and a post-summer rebound was put into question.

“There was talk of €20-30 [per tonne] price rises for October-delivery coil, but demand is not strong enough to support it,” a buyer in Italy said.

Meanwhile, several sources reported HRC offers from Vietnam at €570 per tonne CFR to Southern Europe.

One source reported an offer from a Vietnamese mill to the Iberian market at €540 per tonne CFR, but sources suggested it was for a large tonnage.

From Saudi Arabia, offers to Italy were heard at €610 per tonne CFR.

From Japan, offers were heard in the range of €580-600 per tonne CFR, depending on the supplier.

Turkish mills were reportedly offering HRC to Southern Europe at €600 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty, and a deal was heard done at €590 per tonne CFR to the Iberian market at the end of the previous week.

Most overseas suppliers were offering September- or early-October-shipment HRC to Europe.

Published by: Julia Bolotova