Prices for hot-rolled coil continued to weaken across Europe, pressured by modest demand and competitive import offers.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was €575.71 ($668.20) per tonne on on Tuesday June 24, down by €4.52 per tonne from €580.23 per tonne on Monday June 23.
Sources reported estimates of workable prices largely within the range of €570-590 per tonne ex-works.
A sell-side source said €570 per tonne ex-works was a red line for many mills in the region, and he did not expect much room for further decreases below that level.
However, a trader noted that one key supplier showed readiness to accept €560 per tonne ex-works, though this was not widely confirmed by the time of publication.
The first source also said that buying in the region had been mostly hand-to-mouth over the past six weeks.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €548.33 per tonne on Tuesday, down from €556.00 per tonne ex-works on Monday.
Most recent sales were heard at the level of €550 per tonne ex-works, but a second sell-side source reported €540 per tonne ex-works as minimum workable level.
“Offers do not exist anymore. This type of negotiation almost does not exist at the moment. If you need to sell, you wait for customers’ price idea and then try to raise the price somewhat,” the second sell-side source added.
HRC offers from Indonesia came at €470-480 per tonne ex-works.
Coils from Turkey were available at €530 per tonne CFR duty paid, although some sources said that it is possible to reach €500-510 per tonne duty paid in case of large orders.
