Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €670.00 ($752.06) per tonne on July 17, down by €2.25 per tonne from €672.25 per tonne on Friday July 14.
The latest calculation of the Northern European index was down by €10.00 per tonne week on week, and down by €19.79 per tonne month on month.
Customers opted to restock only with such material that they required rather than commit to large tonnages, Fastmarkets heard. Despite the stabilizing prices, buyers have remained conservative in their approach to restocking due to the depressed market conditions and low demand.
Buyers’ estimates of workable prices were reported at €660-680 per tonne ex-works on Monday.
In the week to July 14, producers were reported to be seeking price rises to €680-700 per tonne ex-works for September-October delivery coil, Fastmarkets heard. But market participants still doubted that such prices could be achieved given the current low demand.
The Italian hot-rolled coil market remained slow.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €656.25 per tonne on Monday, up by €1.25 per tonne from €655.00 per tonne on July 14.
But the Italian index was down by €12.08 per tonne week on week, and down by €4.58 per tonne month on month.
Deals for September-delivery coil from Italy closed at €640-650 per tonne ex-works. Mills were hoping for price rises for next month, and were currently negotiating prices around €670-680 per tonne ex-works for October delivery, Fastmarkets heard.
The overall outlook remained relatively bearish, Fastmarkets heard.
“Demand is weak, and restocking is limited,” a trader source in the region said.
Tradeable values were estimated by buyers at €640-660 per tonne ex-works, Fastmarkets heard.
Offers of HRC for shipment in September-October from Asia were heard on July 14 at €610-620 per tonne CFR.
