The limited availability of the material was seen to be the main reason for continuing price rises.
In Northern Europe, offers were heard at €800-820 ($868-890) per tonne ex-works. But these prices were not accepted by the market.
Deals for small volumes were reported in the range of €750-760 per tonne ex-works. “Orders at these prices [would be delivered in] the second quarter of 2024, but March deliveries were still possible,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets.
Market participants estimated the tradable market level in the same range of €750-760 per tonne ex-works.
Consequently, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €754.17 per tonne on January 29, up by €2.92 per tonne from €751.25 per tonne on January 26.
The index was also up by €7.92 per tonne week on week and by €58.67 per tonne month on month.
According to Fastmarkets’ sources, the continuing price rises were not so much demand-driven but a result of the limited availability.
“Buyers are booking only the volumes they absolutely need, and avoiding a build-up of stocks,” a second buyer source told Fastmarkets.
Meanwhile, quite a few blast furnaces were still idle in Europe, and import offers for material were not particularly attractive.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €753.33 per tonne on Monday, up by €8.33 per tonne from €745.00 per tonne on Friday.
The index was also up by €17.78 per tonne week on week and by €65.00 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, offers were heard in the range of €750-770 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants estimated the tradable market level to be in the range of €745-755 per tonne ex-works.
Offers of imported material from Japan, South Korea and India to Italy were heard between €670 per tonne and €700 per tonne CFR.
“These offers are not interesting [for importers] because they are too close to the local [price] and have delivery times that are too long at 3-4 months. Furthermore, there are still sizable HRC tonnages stored in ports and waiting to be cleared in the second quarter,” the first buyer source told Fastmarkets.
A third buyer source reported import offers from Asia at €660-680 per tonne CFR.
Market participants estimated the tradable price for Indian HRC at $730-735 per tonne CFR in Southern Europe.
Offers from Turkey were heard at $690 per tonne FOB, which would net back to around $750 per tonne CFR to Italy.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
