European hot-rolled coil prices were broadly flat on Wednesday June 18, with downbeat sentiment weighing down on buying activity in both Northern Europe and Italy, sources told Fastmarkets.
From integrated mills, July-delivery coil was on offer in the range of €600-620 ($693-716) per tonne ex-works, while bids for such material were mainly reported lower, at €570-590 per tonne ex-works.
Mill sources estimated workable prices no lower than €600 per tonne ex-works but admitted that it was challenging to maintain this level, considering a lack of real demand and bearish buyer sentiment.
“I think it will go further down in the summer. After that, we will see a traditional rebound in the following quarter, but nothing extraordinary,” a German buyer said.
“We don’t buy [HRC] because first, we have enough stocks, and second, we expect prices to slide lower,” the buyer added.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was €593.33 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €0.17 per tonne from €593.50 per tonne on Tuesday June 17.
The Northern European index was down by €7.50 per tonne week on week and by €45.42 per tonne month on month.
Overall, expectations regarding price trends were quite pessimistic due to both subdued consumption and seasonality factors, Fastmarkets heard.
“We will have very long summer holidays this year; the market is too weak,” a buyer in the Benelux area said.
Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €571.88 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €3.75 per tonne day on day.
The Italian index was down by €11.04 per tonne week on week and by €38.75 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, the HRC market was also subdued, with only scarce trading reported.
HRC from domestic producers in Italy was available at €570-585 per tonne ex-works for July delivery, sources said.
Buyers’ estimations of tradeable prices came in a wider range, at €540-570 per tonne ex-works, but the lower end was not traded, sources said.
Deals for small tonnages were reported at €560-575 per tonne ex-works earlier this week.
A European supplier reportedly sold HRC to Italy at €535 per tonne ex-works, with market sources estimating it to net back to around €580-585 per tonne delivered. The same supplier was heard selling coil to Italy at €555 per tonne ex-works during the week to Friday June 13.
Import HRC offers were stable to slightly weaker in the week to Wednesday.
Indonesian HRC was heard offered at €470-480 per tonne CFR to Italy for August shipment.
Turkish coil was said to be available at €530-540 per tonne CFR, duty paid. Some sources reported even lower prices for Turkish coil, at €520-525 per tonne CFR duty paid.
