Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €654.38 ($716.63) per tonne on Tuesday, up by €2.38 per tonne from €652.00 per tonne the previous day.
The Northern European index was up by €9.38 per tonne week on week and by €23.00 per tonne month on month.
Offer prices for June/July delivery HRC in Northern Europe hovered around €670-700 per tonne ex-works, sources told Fastmarkets.
One buyer source reported some transactions being done at close to the lower end of the range, but that could not be widely confirmed by other market participants and most still regard €640-660 per tonne ex-works the workable level.
The current upward trend in the HRC prices in Northern Europe was attributed mainly to limited imports and the reduced domestic supplies, with actual demand stable at low levels, Fastmarkets understands.
But some customers who really needed to replenish stocks were willing to accept the new, higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €631.25 per tonne on Tuesday, up by €2.50 per tonne from €628.75 per tonne the previous day.
The index was up by €6.25 per tonne week on week and up by €11.25 per tonne month on month.
One Italian supplier was heard offering HRC with lead times of 4-5 weeks at €660-670 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €650-660 per tonne ex-works.
A second Italian supplier, which was recently offering HRC at €630 per tonne ex-works was said to have withdrawn from the market, sources told Fastmarkets.
An integrated European mill was still offering June delivery HRC in the Italian market at €680-700 per tonne delivered, Fastmarkets understands, but demand in the Italian market remains subdued and no transactions were reported on Tuesday.
Some bids were heard at €620-630 per tonne ex-works, but suppliers were not willing to accept that level, sources said, but most buyers said the tradable level was closer to the bid level.
In terms of imports, Indonesian HRC was on offer to Italy at €560 per tonne CFR.
And Turkish HRC continued to be offered to Italy at €580-590 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty, with some small-volume transactions reported at close to that level, sources told Fastmarkets.
