European steel HRC prices stable amid slow trading

Prices for steel hot-rolled coil in Europe were largely unchanged on Friday June 14 amid slow trading, industry sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €635.00 ($684.48) per tonne on Friday, down by €1.00 per tonne from €636.00 per tonne on June 13.

The index was up by €1.25 per tonne week on week but down by €5.88 per tonne month on month.

An integrated mill in the Benelux region was heard offering July-August delivery HRC at €650-660 per tonne ex-works.

Mills in Germany offered HRC in the range of €640-650 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €630-640 per tonne ex-works, for July-August delivery.

Fastmarkets’ sources estimated tradeable prices in the range of €620-640 per tonne ex-works.

“After the announcement of the new adjustments in the European import safeguard measures, some producers tried to increase prices. But the market did not allow a significant rebound, and now [the price is] where it is,” a producer source told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €631.88 per tonne on Friday, up by €0.21 per tonne from €631.67 per tonne on Thursday.

The index was up by €1.05 per tonne week on week but down by €4.38 per tonne month on month.

A local steelmaker in Italy was heard increasing its offers on HRC to €680 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €670 per tonne ex-works. But market participants believed this price to be unworkable due to continued slow demand.

Deals for small volumes were heard in the range of €630-635 per tonne ex-works.

Fastmarkets’ sources estimated the tradeable price in a similar range.

Import offers on Turkish HRC were heard at €610-630 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty.

Many Asian suppliers continued to refrain from making any offers to Europe.

Trade sources told Fastmarkets that interest in buying overseas coil remained minimal due to the long lead times, the similarity of prices to those in the European market, and concerns over import quotas.

Julia Bolotova in Brussels contributed to this report.

Published by: Darina Kahramanova

fastmarkets.com