Trading in the European HRC market was still limited, sources said.
“Restocking still didn’t gain pace. Destocking still not completed and there is a competition between mills and distributors downstream,” a buyer in Germany said.
January-delivery HRC was offered by an integrated mill in Central Europe at €580 ($612) per tonne ex-works.
A buyer source said that a supplier was not usually actively offering HRC to the spot market, so the move indicated weak order books.
A re-roller in the Benelux area was offering HRC with January lead times at €570 per tonne ex-works.
First-tier integrated mills maintained offers for January-February delivery coil at €600 per tonne ex-works, however, buyers deemed such prices unworkable, considering weak consumption and oversupply.
Several sources said that it was possible to get lower prices for tonnages of 1,000 tonnes and above.
Notably, achievable prices were estimated by buyers at €550-570 per tonne ex-works, Fastmarkets heard.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €560.83 per tonne on December 10, down by just €2.65 per tonne from €563.48 per tonne on Monday December 9.
The index was down by €0.42 per tonne week on week, but up by €2.08 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, negotiations for long-term contracts with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector were still underway.
One major supplier in the region reportedly sealed a contract with an automaker “with only a double digit decrease,” Fastmarkets heard.
However, in general progress was slow, sources said.
“Negotiations [with OEMs] are ongoing, no relevant closing at the moment,” a second trader said.
“Automotive negotiations might extend into January,” a mill source said.
Buyers were hoping to achieve a discount of around €100-150 per tonne for first-half and full-year 2025 contracts, while mills were hoping for a more minor reduction of some €50-70 per tonne, or even a price rollover in some cases, sources said.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €559.00 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €1.42 per tonne from €560.42 per tonne a day before.
The Italian index was also down by €1.00 per tonne week on week but up by €6.50 per tonne month on month.
One integrated mill in Italy was maintaining official offers for first-quarter delivery HRC at €600 per tonne delivered (€590 per tonne ex-works), with bids for such material coming in at €570-580 per tonne delivered (€560-570 per tonne ex-works).
No sales at target offer levels have been reported so far.
Another supplier was heard accepting around €550 per tonne ex-works for January-delivery material.
The market for import HRC in Italy, meanwhile, has been mostly quiet recently due to trade defense measures, as well as uncompetitive prices, sources said.
Offers of HRC for February shipment from Taiwan and South Korea to Italy were heard at €580 per tonne CFR on Tuesday.
