European prices for steel hot-rolled coil remained steady in the week to Wednesday February 18, following recent market shifts linked to the effects of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and other regulatory changes, Fastmarkets heard.
Market sources said that, while the sector increasingly focused on domestic production, demand levels remained low because the market was still adjusting to changing dynamics, but sentiment remained positive.
“The [domestic] market is a bit better than it was before. With imports less interesting because of CBAM, there is a big focus on domestic production now,” a market source in Northern Europe said.
Another source said that mills were pushing for higher offer prices but that it might take a few weeks for those levels to be achieved in the market.
Some estimates of workable prices were said still to hover around €650-660 ($772-783) per tonne ex-works, no new trading activity was reported during the day.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €662.81 ($782.49) per tonne on February 18, unchanged from February 17.
The index was up by €10.31 per tonne week on week and by €22.31 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, market sources also noted low demand in the market. Estimates of workable prices were reported within the range of €650-660 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €655.00 per tonne on February 18, down by €1.20 per tonne from €656.20 per tonne on Tuesday.
But the index was up by €7.83 per tonne week on week and by €23.75 per tonne month on month.
