One integrated producer in Northern Europe cut its offer price to €570 per tonne ex-works in the week to Friday, down from €600 ($669) per tonne ex-works at the beginning of September.
And producer sources said the tradable price was closer to €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
“We can now accept €540 [per tonne ex-works], even though it’s basically at the cost line,” a mill source in Northern Europe said.
Buyer estimates of the workable level came in at €530-550 per tonne ex-works on Friday, although most were around €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
And lead times remained quite short, within four to five weeks.
“Spot prices [for HRC] are €550-550 per tonne ex-works,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets. “Some mills are really in a panic, particularly because of the dramatic situation with the car industry. Apart from that, most mills are looking to Brussels, waiting for the European Commission to act.”
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €545.21 ($608.24) per tonne on Friday, down by €0.42 per tonne from €545.63 per tonne on Thursday.
The index was down by €11.25 per tonne week on week and by €52.29 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was €541.67 per tonne on Friday, down by €0.83 per tonne from €542.50 per tonne the previous day.
The Italian index was down by €15.83 per tonne week on week and by €53.33 per tonne month on month.
Sources told Fastmarkets that one domestic mill was offering HRC at €560 per tonne delivered, with lead times ranging from late October to early November. This would be equivalent to €545-550 per tonne ex-works, they said.
Other European suppliers were heard offering coil to Italy at €560 per tonne delivered.
And buyer sources estimated the tradable level in Italy at €530-550 per tonne ex-works.
Several sources in Italy suggested that current HRC prices were close to rock bottom for producers, but added that they expect to see some stabilization in October.
“Mills are already losing money selling [HRC] at the current prices, so I think they will close some facilities [such as furnaces and rolling lines] rather than continuing production and losing even more,” a second buyer source said.
European mill sources would not confirm any immediate plans to cut production, however.
“Cutting [steel] production means losing free-carbon rights, so it is a difficult choice,” a second mill source in Northern Europe told Fastmarkets.
The European market for coil imports remained quiet in the week to Friday.
“Most Asian suppliers kept a low profile this week – cautious about the [anti-dumping investigation] by the EU,” a third buyer source said.
“Actual import prices are close to domestic levels, So why buy from Asia with November-December lead times when you can get material within Europe in October? Besides, there is almost no demand,” the source added.
On September 24, the European Commission announced that it will start to register all imports of products falling under anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations, including continuing investigations where provisional determinations have not yet been made. And that further cooled the appetite for imports, sources said.
In the week to Friday, HRC offers to Italy came in from Asia at about €525-535 per tonne CFR for end-October/early November shipment, Fastmarkets understands.
And bids for the material were reported at €480-510 per tonne CFR, although no offers at that level had been heard by the time of publication.
