“There is not enough demand and there is too much material in the market,” a service center source said.
“Zero change from last week,” another service center source said. “The middle of vacation period … is always a slow period.”
Sources said the market remains unchanged despite the European Commission’s investigation into certain Asian countries for antidumping activities, particularly due to the fact that buyer interest for imports remain weak, with consumers looking domestically to stock up on material.
“We will have to see what comes out after the investigation,” a service center source said. “In the meantime, nothing really changed.”
Other sources, however, said there were still shipments coming into European ports, leaving some level of uncertainty, particularly as most import quotas were expected to be used up quickly in the next quarter.
“I don’t expect any movement until the market comes back,” another market source said.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur615/mt ex-works Ruhr Aug. 7, stable on the day.
Tradable values were reported at Eur610-620/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe at Eur615/mt ex-works Italy Aug. 7, stable on the day.
