Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €653.75 ($724.03) per tonne on Wednesday, down marginally by €0.63 per tonne from €654.38 per tonne the previous day.
The Northern European index was up by €2.71 per tonne week on week and by €22.37 per tonne month on month.
Mills in Northern Europe continued offering June-July delivery HRC at €670-700 per tonne ex-works, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
However, the price levels in transactions were below the targeted offers, Fastmarkets understands.
Buyers’ estimations for the tradable market level were mainly at €640-650 per tonne ex-works.
“The market is very quiet now. I do not think that levels of around €700 per tonne ex-works will be achieved. The European economy is in crisis and real consumption is still low,” a distributor source based in Germany told Fastmarkets.
The source added that the market would probably slow down due to the upcoming Easter holidays.
A distributor source from the Benelux region also confirmed that the market is comparatively calm now.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €631.25 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day.
The index was up by €6.25 per tonne week on week and by €11.25 per tonne month on month.
The latest domestic offers for HRC with delivery in four to five weeks were heard at €660-670 per tonne delivered, equivalent to€650-660 per tonne ex-works.
An integrated European mill was still offering June-delivery HRC in the Italian market at €680-700 per tonne delivered, Fastmarkets understands.
However, no major transactions were heard in the Italian market, with most buyers estimating the tradable market level at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Regarding imports, Indonesia was heard offering HRC to Italy at €550-560 per tonne CFR, but some sources reported higher offer levels from the same destination, reaching €580-585 per tonne CFR.
India offered HRC to Italy at €580-590 per tonne CFR, industry sources told Fastmarkets.
Thailand was also heard offering HRC to Italy at €580-590 per tonne CFR.
Turkey continued offering HRC to Italy at €580-590 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Some transactions with Turkish HRC to Spain were reported at €600-605 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty, but these were not largely confirmed by other market sources.
