Italy
Despite the likely push for higher prices, S275-grade heavy plate was still on offer in Italy at €660-670 per tonne ex-works with lead times of around three weeks, Fastmarkets understands, but transaction prices were “stuck” at €640-650 per tonne ex-works.
“There is not simply enough demand [for plate] and prices for commodity grade [heavy plate] are more or less stuck. However, we see slab prices ticking up, so there will probably be another attempt to increase plate prices to track this,” a buyer in Italy said.
But Italian steel plate buyers remain skeptical about the potential uptrend in prices given the current muted demand, sources said.
“If demand was sufficient, prices [for heavy plate] would have already been €10-20 per tonne higher,” a mill source told Fastmarkets.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was unchanged on Wednesday at €640-650 per tonne.
Overseas suppliers of steel slab, the key feedstock for plate production, started to increase their offer prices earlier this month.
Overall, the range of offers from Asian suppliers was $520-540 per tonne CIF, although heavy plate from Asia with May shipment was reported at €580-600 per tonne CFR.
Sources said, that suppliers from South Korea were being “more cautious” after tougher safeguard measures were announced by the EU.
“Interest in new heavy plate imports [in Italy] have been minimal [and] there are sufficient stocks in the Italian ports,” a second buyer source said.
Northern Europe
In Northern Europe, demand for commodity grade heavy plate remained limited.
“The spot market for commodity grade plate is very slow, with mainly hand-to-mouth bookings” a buyer source in Germany told Fastmarkets.
“The only positive situation [is] in ‘project business’ or for higher grades, with a limited number of specialist mills obtain interesting orders for offshore foundations, monopiles or wind farms,” the buyer source added.
One German mill, traditionally focused on project business, was offering heavy plate with lead times of around six weeks at €750-790 per tonne ex-works.
Another German supplier was offering plate at €700-730 per tonne from one location and at €680-700 per tonne from another.
Buyer estimates of the tradable level came in at €680-700 per tonne ex-works, with most indications around €690-700 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €690-700 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.
In Central Europe, meanwhile, a Czech reroller was offering S275-grade steel plate at €670 per tonne ex-works, in both the domestic market and to Poland, sources told Fastmarkets.
Sources said the achievable price for such material was around €650-655 per tonne ex-works.
