Daily steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices edged down in Northern Europe as buyers were reluctant to accept mills’ higher targets, while Italian prices rose on the latest deals, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday November 2.
In Northern Europe, sources said producers were attempting to push through increases of €20-30 ($22-33) per tonne, supported by limited import competition, but customers were reluctant to accept higher levels.
A buyer source reported offers for January delivery at €760 ($848) per tonne delivered, which is equivalent to €740-745 per tonne ex-works after deducting delivery costs of €15-20 per tonne.
The same buyer reported higher offers at €800 per tonne delivered for the same period, which nets back to €780-785 per tonne ex-works, but said this level was considered unrealistic in the market. For this reason, the price point was discarded from the index calculation.
“Long lead times and limited import competition are supporting German mills in maintaining firm price levels,” the buyer said, adding that another factor was the producers’ ongoing negotiations with automotive customers regarding long-term contracts for the first quarter and the first half of 2027.
Mills were seeking increases of €100-150 per tonne from levels agreed for the second half of 2026, but were unlikely to secure more than half of the requested increase, sources told Fastmarkets on October 30.
A second buyer source reported spot market deals achieved in the range of €750-760 per tonne ex-works on Monday for December-January delivery.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €748.75 per tonne on Monday November 2, down by €2 per tonne from €750.75 on Friday October 30.
The index was down by €5 per tonne week on week but up by €5.42 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, sources said mills were also trying to achieve higher levels in the market, pushing offers slowly up.
Latest deals were reported at €750-760 per tonne ex-works on Monday by a trade source, who also said offers were at €780 per tonne ex-works. The higher level was not accepted in the market yet, so it was discarded from the daily index calculation.
A buyer indicated workable HRC levels at €750 per tonne ex-works in Italy, while a second trade source reported a workable price range within €730-750 per tonne ex-works, linking the lower end to stock material and the higher end to prices from mills.
The second trade source added that they were not hearing fresh offers in the market due to limited availability of material to be delivered for the remainder of 2026.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €748.33 per tonne on Monday November 2, up by €3.02 per tonne from €745.31 on Friday October 30.
The index was up by €7.33 per tonne week on week and by €5.83 per tonne month on month.
