Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil held steady across Europe on Thursday April 9, with local mills indicating they will be looking to increase prices for July deliveries, despite stable demand, sources told Fastmarkets.
Import constraints were seen as a major driver behind the uptrend, sources said.
“As of July 1, we will have new safeguards in place and a 50% cut in imports, so European suppliers will be counting on support from the regulations,” a buyer in Germany said.
Integrated mills in Germany and the Benelux area were largely sold out of second-quarter delivery coil, with only limited tonnages of June delivery HRC still available at some suppliers.
“The order books for May-June lead times HRC are 80-90% full, depending on a mill,” a supplier source told Fastmarkets.
Deals for limited tonnages of June delivery HRC were heard at €720-730 ($841-853) per tonne ex-works in Germany, with buyer’s estimates of achievable prices mainly reported at no lower than €710-720 per tonne ex-works on Thursday.
Offers for July lead times were heard at €750-760 per tonne ex-works.
Leading European mill still did not announce firm offers for July delivery, with some buyer sources indicating a base price of €780 per tonne delivered (€765 per tonne ex-works) as a target offer.
Sources told Fastmarkets they expect more clarity on offers next week during the major Tube & Wire steel trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany, on April 13-17.
Limited tonnages of Italy-origin coil were offered to Germany at a base price of €730-750 per tonne delivered, depending on quality on Thursday. But because of the increased freight rates (estimated to be up by 20% since the US/Israel attacks on Iran and its wide-ranging response across the Middle East), suppliers were said to be prioritizing domestic sales, sources said.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €720.00 per tonne on April 9, up by €2.50 per tonne from €717.50 per tonne on April 8.
The index was also up by €1.24 per tonne week on week and by €18.54 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €699.00 per tonne ex-works on April 9, down by €2.00 per tonne from €701.00 per tonne on Wednesday.
But the index was up by €0.25 per tonne week on week and by €14.00 per tonne month on month.
In Italy trading was limited, with neither buyers nor sellers hungry interested in moving tonnages.
Suppliers had good order books, however, while buyers said their stock levels were sufficient, considering the slow underlying demand from end users.
A local re-roller, who suspended HRC production last week due to technical issues,, has yet to resume operations, sources told Fastmarkets.
Local HRC producers were maintaining HRC offers at a minimum of €700 per tonne ex-works, with June lead times still said to be available, sources said, while for larger tonnages, some suppliers ready to sell coil at levels slightly below €700 per tonne ex-works
Local market participants in Italy estimated the workable level at €690-700 per tonne ex-works on Thursday.
At the same time, new import offers have been very limited recently.
Market participants told Fastmarkets that buyers were mostly holding back, awaiting more clarity on country-specific quota allocations before committing to purchases.
The European Commission is expected to announce revised quota volumes for the new safeguard system in late April/early May, with implementation scheduled for July 1.
The uncertainty surrounding the updated safeguard measures, along with the potential cost implications of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) continued to weigh on import buying interest.
Additionally, logistical challenges and sharply higher freight rates linked to the conflict in the Middle East, have constrained import offers from Asia.
But HRC was on offer from Turkish mills at €620-630 per tonne CFR on Thursday, including the anti-dumping duty, but excluding CBAM costs.
CBAM costs for Turkish coil were estimated at €40-50 per tonne, sources said, provided actual emissions values were used.
HRC from Turkey that arrived in the EU in the first quarter 2026 using default values would face CBAM costs of €100.55 per tonne, according to Fastmarkets’ estimates.
“There is a lot of concern over [actual carbon emissions] verifications timeline at the moment,” a buyer in Italy told Fastmarkets.
Earlier this week, the European Commission published the first-quarter 2026 CBAM certificate price at €75.36 per tCO2e.
