In Northern Europe, trading was quiet, with no changes in offer prices or in the workable estimates for HRC trades.
“There are [Easter] school holidays in some countries so, overall, the market is quiet,” a buyer in Germany said. “And the next week will be short again due to public holiday on May 1, so it looks like everyone is just waiting for the Made in Steel [trade fair in Italy on May 6-8] to see where the market is going.”
Suppliers in the Benelux region and Germany were well-booked and had HRC with June-July lead times on offer at around €670-700 ($768-803) per tonne ex-works, sources said.
But buyer sources said the offer prices were “too elevated and not reflective” of the current economic situation.
“Real demand remains weak and soon it will start to put some pressure on domestic HRC prices,” a second buyer in Northern Europe said.
The tradable value were estimated by buyers at no more than €640-660 per tonne ex-works.
Other sources, however, said there was room for more HRC price rises, given the limited availability of imports and increasing reliance on domestic supplies.
“The balance is shifting,” a third buyer source said. “We have a seller’s market at the moment [and] afeguards and anti-dumping [measures have] closed the European market to traditional import suppliers and the European buyers are yet to find new sources [of imports].
In the meantime, European mills remain the first choice for many buyers,” the buyer added.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €652.00 per tonne on April 23, down slightly by €2.00 per tonne from the previous calculation of €654.00 per tonne on April 22.
The Northern European index was down by €1.13 per tonne week on week, but was up by €11.62 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €625.42 per tonne on Wednesday, edging down by €2.08 per tonne from €627.50 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was down by €4.58 per tonne week on week, but up by €2.92 per tonne month on month.
Trading activity in the Italian market was minimal in between holidays.
“We have only three working days [this week] in Italy and many people are on holiday, so trading is close to zero,” a buyer in Italy said.
Sources reported steady offers at around €640-650 per tonne delivered (€630-640 per tonne ex-works) from suppliers and at around €620 per tonne ex-works from a mill, with some room for discounts, Fastmarkets understands.
Buyers estimated achievable prices at €620-630 per tonne ex-works. For big tonnages [3,000-5,000 tonnes], however, bids were heard at €610-620 per tonne delivered (€600-610 per tonne ex-works). Although sources said there has not been “much appetite” for big volumes.
In the secondary market, 4 mm HR sheet was on offer at €700-720 per tonne CPT, stable for the past few weeks, although sources said sales were slow.
There were few offers of HRC imports due to the EU’s numerous trade measures, with “traditional” suppliers in Vietnam, Egypt and Japan facing anti-dumping duties, while quarterly quotas were cut for other origins, forcing European buyers to explore other options.
A sizable HRC cargo from Indonesia was heard booked to Italy at €520 per tonne CFR earlier this month, although some sources said the same deal had been closed at €530 per tonne CFR.
And one Indian supplier was heard offering HRC to Europe at €565 per tonne CFR for June shipment.
June-shipment HRC from Turkey was on offer at €560-570 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
