“There’s not a lot of positivity. Holidays in Europe and some shorter weeks ahead won’t help build momentum,” one trader source said. “Market confidence is lacking at the moment.”
The market remains uncertain about price direction for the rest of Q2, with a weak Q3 anticipated as more holidays approach.
“The market’s quiet following the Easter break, and people can’t agree on where prices are going in Q2 — some think they’ll hold or rise a bit, others expect a drop,” a distributor source said. “Imports might push prices down later if demand stays weak.”
Some buyer-side market participants remained skeptical of the higher mill offers heard in recent weeks, citing that with the weaker liquidity seen in the post-Easter break, there were expectations that offers could drop.
Despite this, others in the market have remained confident that price levels would remain supported, especially as import volumes into the EU were lower than expected, with some market participants saying that the safeguard quotas had larger-than-anticipated unallocated units. As of the day, net remaining EU safeguard quotas for HRC stood at 71.35%.
“Many people were uncertain and didn’t know what measures would be introduced, so they didn’t place many orders,” one service center source said, referring to subdued imports from quota-affected countries.
On the demand side, some optimism remains. Sources cited early signs of recovery in agriculture and construction, even as the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to weigh on sentiment.
Mills are standing firm on their offers. They expect a near-term demand boost as buyers with low inventories may be forced back into the market. This is reflected in the lack of significant discounts and lengthening lead times.
“Mills in Europe are well covered up to July so I see delivered times are going up,” said a mill source.
From the import side, a trader source expressed optimism with the strengthening of the Euro, despite the HRC CIF Italy price falling Eur5 on the day.
Platts assessed HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur655/mt EXW Ruhr April 24 and in Southern Europe at Eur625/mt EXW Italy, both stable day over day.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northern Europe at Eur545/mt CIF Antwerp, stable day over day and in Southern Europe at Eur530/mt CIF Italy, down Eur5 day over day.
