Several fresh bookings came to light in the domestic hot-rolled coil market of Northern Europe on Tuesday October 21. Nevertheless, prices still remain below mills’ targets.
Offers of HRC scheduled for delivery in December rose to a minimum of €600 ($696) per tonne ex-works and up to €640 per tonne ex-works following the European Commission’s proposal for sweeping reform of its steel import safeguards unveiled on October 7.
Customers, however, have been slow to accept new higher levels citing lack of demand and still a lot of uncertainty over the new proposed measures as well as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) policy, which is expected to be implemented starting January 1, 2026.
On October 21 market sources reported two deals within the range of €580-590 per tonne ex-works, which is not far from levels achieved earlier in October and in late September.
This compared with an offer at €620 per tonne ex-works reported by one of the suppliers in Germany.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was €595.00 per tonne on Tuesday, up by €3.54 per tonne from €591.46 per tonne on Monday.
The index rose by €6.25 per tonne week on week and by €15 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, offers from local suppliers varied within the range of €600-610 per tonne ex-works, while customers’ price ideas of workable levels varied. Some of them provided estimates at €570-580 per tonne ex-works, adding that levels above that are not achievable at the moment, while others were closer to mills’ target levels, but no particular sales were mentioned.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €585.42 per tonne on Tuesday, up by €0.42 per tonne from €585.00 per tonne on Monday.
The Italian index was up by €7.29 per tonne week on week but up by €35.42 per tonne month on month.
“The Italian market is very quick to react, and I am not surprised that now it is aligned with Northern Europe as there is a lack of import offers,” a buyer source from Southern Europe said.
The market for imported coil has been very quiet in Europe because most overseas suppliers are offering HRC with delivery in the first quarter of 2026 and, therefore, prices for these tonnages will be subject to the EU’s CBAM.
The policy still lacks details despite its implementation being projected for January 1, 2026.
The Italian market was traditionally more affected by imports due to higher inflow of foreign material compared with Northern Europe, as well as its limited number of domestic suppliers. Thus, domestic prices in the country moved closer to the ones in Northern Europe following the slowdown in import activity.
