Italy
For several weeks domestic prices for commodity-grade steel heavy plate in Italy have been stuck at €630-650 ($723-745) per tonne ex-works, with transactions reported within the range.
Offers of €660-670 per tonne for May rolling have not been achievable in spot sales so far, sources said.
“The market [for heavy plate] is very quiet. Besides, this week [commencing April 21] there are only three working days in Italy [and] many people are on holidays, so trading is close to zero,” one buyer in Italy told Fastmarkets.
Demand for heavy plate was limited, with sources continuing to report only hand-to-mouth bookings.
“Plate producers are having a difficult time since there is simply not enough demand. And stockholders and end users are only purchasing missing dimensions/grades, so Italian commodity [heavy plate] prices are stuck,” a second buyer said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe on Wednesday was €630-650 per tonne, widening downward by $10 from €640-650 per tonne seven days ago.
New import offers have been very limited because new safeguards were announced and came into force on April 1.
Sources said there were sufficient stocks of imported plate in ports available at prices around €20-30 per tonne lower than local material and with short delivery times.
Northern Europe
In Northern Europe, trading was also quiet and earlier attempts by German mills to lift prices were largely unsuccessful, according to sources.
One German producer, which traditionally focuses on project business, was offering heavy steel plate with lead times of around six weeks at €750-790 per tonne ex-works. This price was not considered workable for the spot market.
A second German supplier kept its offer price for steel plate at €700-720 per tonne ex-works from one location, and at €690-700 from another.
Lead times from German suppliers was estimated at roughly eight weeks.
But market sources pointed out that recent transactions for commodity-grade heavy plate [s235 and s275] were mainly done at price levels below €700 per tonne.
Traded volumes were still limited in the spot market, but some sources noted a pick-up in inquiries in the second half of April.
Sources also reported improved demand from shipbuilding, but the major orders for heavy plate were still coming from the wind energy sector for offshore foundations or monopiles for offshore farms.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe was €680-700 per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
