European prices for steel cold-rolled coil were stable to slightly higher across various regions in the week to Wednesday December 10, with buyers’ appetite for steel coil still muted while the market prepares for the implementation of new trade regulations from January, Fastmarkets heard.
According to market sources, both buyers and sellers were postponing decisions because of prolonged uncertainty about the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and other trade regulations, keeping demand low.
The import market remains “subdued” while the steel sector prepares for a “potential shift” in trade dynamics, a buyer source in Northern Europe said.
On Wednesday, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, domestic, exw Southern Europe, was €710-750 ($831-878) per tonne ex-works, widening upward from €710-720 per tonne ex-works in the previous week.
The upper end of the assessment reflected a CRC purchase reported at €750 per tonne ex-works, while estimates of workable prices were heard around €710-720 per tonne ex-works during the week.
The only CRC supplier in Italy was sold out for January and even February, trade sources said, but was holding back from announcing new offers, awaiting more clarity on CBAM.
On December 10, finalized CBAM benchmarks and default values passed a European Commission CBAM committee vote.
But the adopted values have yet to become official – they were expected to be published in the EU’s Official Journal before December 25, Fastmarkets heard.
Meanwhile, domestic CRC prices in Northern Europe remained stable.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €710-720 per tonne ex-works on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.
Market sources said that trading was subdued due to high stocks at buyers. Suppliers were comfortably booked as well, and were in no rush to put new offers on the table.
Market sources noted some increase in offer prices for cold-rolled and galvanized coil from one European supplier – to €780 per tonne delivered for March delivery, compared with €750 per tonne delivered for January and February. This was because of tighter availability, especially for cold-rolled coil, which was predominantly supplied by imports, but currently more than half of import CRC volumes were under anti-dumping investigations.
On December 3, the European Commission presented a new registration process for some imports of cold-rolled steel products from India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam. Under the new rule, duties would be applied retroactively on imports from those jurisdictions that were found to have been dumped into the EU market between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025.
The Commission’s announcement was the next step in its anti-dumping investigation into cold-rolled flat steel imports, launched on September 18, 2025.
This step was intended to enable the possible imposition of anti-dumping duties on these imports following an investigation, Fastmarkets understands.
Therefore, European buyers have been very cautious with CRC bookings recently, choosing “safer” origins outside of the AD investigation.
“South Korea and Brazil are ‘reliable’ suppliers, more or less,” a buyer in Italy said. “Besides, Brazil has relatively low default emissions values under CBAM, so it’s additional advantage.”
Meanwhile, CRC import prices were broadly stable in the week to Wednesday.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Southern Europe, was stable at €600-620 per tonne CFR, while the price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Northern Europe, was €604-620 per tonne CFR, also unchanged week on week.
On the other hand, the DDP assessment for CRC imports to Southern Europe edged upward slightly on Wednesday.
Some traders were increasingly offering DDP deals and taking on CBAM-related risks on the seller’s side, but buyers remained wary of potential cost escalations.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, ddp Southern Europe, was €700-725 per tonne this week, widening upward from €700-720 per tonne on December 3.
Estimates of workable prices were reported around €700-720 per tonne DDP this week. Meanwhile, a deal from South Korea for 10,000 tonnes of material was heard at €725 per tonne DDP, reflected in the assessment’s upper end margin.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil, import, ddp Northern Europe, was €700-730 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.
