In Northern Europe, estimates of tradable prices were still in the range of €680-690 ($780-791) per tonne ex-works, but no fresh business was heard during the day.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €686.50 ($787.34) per tonne on June 18, down by €1.50 per tonne from €688.00 per tonne on June 17.
The index was down by €1.92 per tonne week on week and by €2.25 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, offers varied within the range of €665-690 per tonne ex-works, depending on supplier, with some bids as low as €655-665 per tonne ex-works.
But no fresh trades were heard during the day because all eyes were on the details of the new safeguard regime.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €675.00 per tonne on Thursday, down by €8.75 per tonne from €683.75 per tonne on Wednesday.
The index was down by €7.50 per tonne week on week and by €5.63 per tonne month on month.
Offers of Turkey-origin HRC were heard at €600-610 per tonne CFR Italy. Indian material was heard available at €595-603 per tonne CFR.
On a DDP basis, offers from these countries came at €680 per tonne and €700 per tonne respectively.
Material from Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Thailand, was offered at €680-700 per tonne DDP. And Algerian HRC was available at €700-710 per tonne DDP in Italy and Spain.
The most expensive offers came from Japan at €740 per tonne DDP.
At the same time, customers showed limited interest in imported material, with indications of workable prices at €640-650 per tonne DDP.
A buyer from Italy said that anything above €650 per tonne DDP was unworkable, considering a cost around €20 per tonne for delivery to the buyer’s site from the port. Higher import prices lose competitiveness to domestic ones while incurring potential risks.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, cfr main port Southern Europe, was calculated at €595-600 per tonne on June 17, up from €563-600 per tonne on June 10.
And the assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, import, ddp Southern Europe, widened downward to €650-680 per tonne on June 17, from €660-680 per tonne on June 10.
Author: Vlada Novokreshchenova
