European steel HRC prices largely flat in seasonally slow market

The European hot-rolled coil market remained silent on Friday July 21, with buyers and most first-tier mills largely inactive, sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €656.25 ($730.79) per tonne on July 21, down by €2.92 per tonne from €659.17 per tonne on July 20.

The latest calculation of the Northern European index was down by €16.00 per tonne week on week and by €23.75 per tonne month on month.

Most of the first-tier mills in the region were heard to be out of the market for various reasons, including full order books for October deliveries, technical issues, and scheduled equipment repairs.

One integrated producer was said to be offering September-delivery HRC at €650-660 per tonne ex-works.

Sources also reported offers from a re-roller in the Benelux region to Germany at €620-640 per tonne delivered, with transactions heard at the lower end of the range.

One Central European mill was able to offer small volumes of HRC for prompt shipment to Germany at €680 per tonne delivered, but the mill had short payment terms, sources said.

Trading in the region was weak due to seasonality and bearish expectations amid slow demand from most end-user sectors.

Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €638.33 per tonne on July 21, down by €0.42 per tonne from €638.75 per tonne on July 20.

The Italian index was down by €16.67 per tonne week on week and by €13.02 per tonne month on month.

In Italy, buyers reported achievable prices for September-delivery HRC at €640-650 per tonne delivered on Wednesday, which would net back to €625-635 per tonne ex-works, sources said.

For October-delivery material, some mills were hoping to achieve slightly higher prices of €670-680 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €655-665 per tonne ex-works, sources said.

The Italian market was also quiet ahead of seasonal summer stoppages in August. Sources reported that local mills were planning to make these stoppages longer than usual this summer (by about a week, on average) due to slow demand.

HRC offers from Asian mills were reported between $645 per tonne and $670 per tonne CFR to Italy, for September-October shipment.

Published by: Julia Bolotova