European prices for steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) have gone up in the latest trades, following ArcelorMittal’s move to increase offer prices for May-delivery coil, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday February 19.
Even though transaction prices are still lagging behind offer levels, sentiment was still firm, supported by the effects of trade regulations on new imports and good order books at European mills.
In Northern Europe, transactions were heard at €680 ($807) per tonne ex-works in Germany and the Benelux area.
German suppliers were said to be hoping for €700 per tonne delivered (around €685 per tonne ex-works) with minor tonnages of April delivery coil said still to be available.
Italy-origin coil was offered to Germany at €700-720 per tonne delivered with April and May lead times.
Several market sources noted that availability of Italian coil in Germany has been lower over the past few weeks because Italian suppliers preferred to focus on domestic sales.
“Italy is missing import tonnages because of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism [CBAM] and local mills can get better prices there,” a buyer source in Italy said.
In the Benelux area, offers of May-delivery HRC were reported at €680 per tonne ex-works from one supplier.
Earlier this week, leading European flat steel producer ArcelorMittal increased prices for HRC with May lead times to €750 per tonne delivered (around €735 per tonne ex-works).
“ArcelorMittal’s move gave the market another push. Even though they are not achieving these new offers in deals, overall prices continue to climb and other suppliers are pushing offers up as well,” a trading source in Germany said.
Domestic prices for coil across Europe continued to strengthen, following the ArcelorMittal move, even though some buyers remained skeptical about the sustainability of the current uptrend, citing a lack of support from real steel consumption.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €671.50 per tonne on Thursday, up by €8.69 per tonne from €662.81 per tonne on Wednesday.
The index was up by €16.50 per tonne week on week and by €30.87 per tonne month on month.
Another market source pointed out that ArcelorMittal’s new offers to the spot market were actually in line with, or even exceeded, long-term contract prices for the first half of 2026, which was a rather unusual situation.
“Some long-term HRC contracts for the first half of 2026 with automotive [original equipment manufacturers] were finalized at slightly above €700 per tonne, which is very close to the spot market now. So for the second half of 2026, mills will definitely try to get substantial increases [for contracts],” a steel-service center (SSC) in Germany said.
“Spot sales might not be actually very interesting for European mills that have contracts with automotive OEMs,” a second SSC said. “They are well booked so far. [European producers] need to give a clear signal to end-users that prices [for flat steel] are rising in the spot market in order to strengthen their position in the second round of negotiations [of long-term contracts for the second half of 2026].”
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €662.50 per tonne ex-works on Thursday, up by €7.50 per tonne from €655.00 per tonne on Wednesday.
The index was also up by €11.50 per tonne week on week and by €30.83 per tonne month on month.
Italian integrated suppliers were heard to be hoping for €720 per tonne delivered (around €705 per tonne ex-works) for May-delivery HRC, although April-delivery coil was heard still to be available.
Re-rollers were offering their last tonnages of April-delivery coil at lower prices, with market sources reporting prices of €660-670 per tonne ex-works. But target offers for May delivery were heard at €700 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers estimated achievable prices at €660-670 per tonne ex-works.
In the secondary market, meanwhile, 4mm HR sheet was on offer around €750-760 per tonne delivered, up slightly week on week. But market source said that SSCs that were using old HRC feedstock for production had practically run out of stock, so new offers were likely to increase to around €800 per tonne CPT, taking into consideration more expensive HRC.
Meanwhile, in the import coil market, because of the CBAM cost uncertainty, import purchases on a CFR basis were no longer viable for many buyers, leaving DDP-based bookings – with CBAM costs at least partly incorporated – as the only practical option, typically offered by large trading houses.
Market sources reported a transaction for 20,000 tonnes of Turkey-origin HRC around €630-650 per tonne DDP to Italy, inclusive of CBAM costs.
Indian HRC was offered to Europe around $600-620 per tonne CFR.
Several market sources also reported offers of Indonesian coil at €475 per tonne CFR – but this was before Lunar New Year celebrations in Asia. One source suggested that Indonesian material was offered at lower prices than other origins due to extremely high default emissions values for Indonesia, which were making this origin more risky and therefore less attractive for European buyers.
