Trading in the spot HRC market remained weak in Northern Europe, with transactions mainly heard done for limited volumes.
“There is no restocking; everyone buys only what they absolutely have to,” a mill source in the region said.
“The price tendency is going down. It started [during the week to February 9] and mills are still looking for orders for the second quarter, but [real] demand is still very weak,” a trading source told Fastmarkets.
Offer prices for April-delivery HRC were reported at €740-760 ($795-816) per tonne ex-works from integrated mills in the region.
Buyer estimates of tradeable values were no higher than €730-750 per tonne ex-works.
Two sources reported sales of Germany-origin coil at €720-730 per tonne ex-works on Tuesday, but it was not widely confirmed at the time of publication.
Italy-origin coil of March rolling was said to be offered at €760 per tonne ex-works in Germany.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €746.00 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €1.50 per tonne from €747.50 on Tuesday.
The index was down by €9.38 per tonne week on week, but up by €14.12 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy at €735.63 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €8.12 per tonne from €743.75 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was down by €17.12 per tonne week on week, but up by €13.96 per tonne month on month.
Italian mills have reduced HRC prices to fill order books for second-quarter delivery, but sales remained slow.
Offers were reported at around €750-760 per tonne delivered from local suppliers for April-delivery HRC.
“Real demand is still weak and prices [for processed coil] in the secondary market are not increasing,” a buyer in Italy said.
Buyers estimated achievable values for April-delivery HRC at €740-750 per tonne delivered (€725-735 per tonne ex-works) compared with €760-770 per tonne delivered (€745-755 per tonne ex-works) achieved for March delivery.
Despite the price declines, trading remained dull in the local market with buyers keeping to the sidelines and not restocking, citing “very slow sales downstream.”
In the secondary market, 4mm HR sheet was traded no higher than €820-830 per tonne CPT.
Meanwhile, imports were quiet due to the Lunar New Year in Asia.
Offers from India were heard at €670 per tonne CFR on Wednesday.
Offers from Japan and Egypt came in at €640-650 per tonne CFR, sources said, while those from Vietnam were heard at €630 per tonne CFR.
Most overseas suppliers were already offering April-shipment cargoes.
Despite the downtrend in the import coil segment and the increasing gap between European and import HRC, most sources agreed that pressure from imports was minimal so far.
“Importing coil is complicated due to fast-depleting quotas, logistics issues caused by uncertainty in the Red Sea and longer lead times. Big companies who traditionally rely on imports will keep booking [imports] no matter what, while those who need quicker shipment will have no alternatives but the EU mills,” a buyer in Italy said.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
