Trading activity in the European steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) market was quiet on Tuesday September 8, with buyers showing continued resistance to higher mill asking prices and limiting purchases to small volumes.
The Northern European market was relatively slow, with demand described as subdued and restocking ahead of the first quarter yet to materialize.
Small-volume deals were heard concluded at €750 ($862.82) per tonne ex-works.
“Demand remains very dull for the moment. Restocking for Q1 has not yet started,” a buyer told Fastmarkets.
A second buyer said tradable levels were within the range of €730-740 per tonne ex-works.
“The market is very slow and there is no demand, but small quantities on the market can be sold between €730 and €740 per tonne ex-works,” they told Fastmarkets. “€740 is the maximum, and it’s not possible to increase the price further.”
Buyers rejected suppliers’ higher asking prices of €770 per tonne ex-works as unworkable, and those levels were excluded from the daily pricing index.
Regional supply remained constrained, with major producer thyssenkrupp still absent from the market due to ongoing maintenance works.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €742.50 per tonne on September 8, unchanged from September 7. The index was down by €5.83 per tonne week on week and up by €25.00 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, trading activity remained limited amid persistent domestic supply constraints. While Metinvest’s Ferriera Valsider has restarted operations following a previous engine failure, it has yet to return to making offers.
Compounding availability concerns, Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) faces a potential halt to its steelmaking operations by October following an August 27 Milan Court of Appeal ruling, which threatens to leave the domestic market with just a single operational HRC supplier.
Against this backdrop, workable price levels in Italy held firm at €720-730 per tonne ex-works on Tuesday.
“Higher offers sound in the market, but real deals are still flat,” an Italian-based buyer said. “I do expect more strength in price increases from EU producers in the next few weeks. The market is in trouble importing steel,” they added.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €726.25 per tonne ex-works on September 8, down by €1.25 from €727.50 per tonne on September 7. The index was up by €13.75 per tonne week on week and up by €17.50 per tonne month on month.
