The European hot-rolled coil market was quiet after the Easter break with demand muted. Industry sources do not expect major changes in the market until the Made in Steel trade fair in early May, Fastmarkets heard on Tuesday April 22.
HRC with June-July lead times was heard offered in Northern Europe around €670-700 ($771-806) per tonne ex-works.
Transactions in the region were reported within the range of €640-660 per tonne ex-works before the Easter break, but traded volumes were limited.
“Stockholders are very cautious and order only sizes which are not available, and don’t dare restocking on a bigger scale,” a second buyer in Germany said.
Market participants hope to get greater clarity regarding the price direction after the Made in Steel trade fair in Milan on May 6-8.
Some sources were not ruling out further increases, considering reduced domestic supply and limited imports due to trade measures.
“EU mills are comfortably booked. Some suppliers are overbooked for the second quarter. It’s a seller’s market,” a distributor in Benelux area said.
Other sources expressed doubts over the uptrend continuing, considering a lack of real demand.
“Global markets are very volatile. The US tariff impact is unforeseeable but potentially might mean a hit for the already suffering automotive industry in Europe. [It is] hard to predict [steel] price movements in such conditions,” a mill source said.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €654 per tonne on Tuesday, up slightly from the previous calculation of €653.13 per tonne on April 17.
Fastmarkets’ European HRC indices were not published on April 18 and April 21 because of the Good Friday and Easter Monday holidays in the United Kingdom.
The Northern European index was down by €0.17 per tonne week on week but up by €13.62 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €627.50 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €0.67 per tonne from €628.17 per tonne on April 17.
The index was down by €4.00 per tonne week on week but up by €5.00 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was quiet on Tuesday, with softer demand compared to Northern Europe.
Sources suggested that was due to higher stocks against slow real demand.
One integrated mill in Italy was heard offering at €640-660 per tonne delivered, which would net back to €630-650 per tonne ex-works.
Another supplier was heard selling June-delivery HRC at €610-620 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers estimated achievable prices at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources reported softer import offers.
Notably, from one Turkish supplier, HRC was heard to be offered to Italy at €550 per tonne CFR duty paid. Other sources argued that this price excluded the duty.
This was in contrast with offers reported at €580-600 per tonne CFR, duty paid, in the previous week.
Indonesian offers have been reported at €540-550 per tonne CFR Italy, while one supplier was heard providing “significant” discounts for bigger volumes up to €520-530 per tonne CFR.
Offers from one Indian mill to Italy were reported at €590 per tonne CFR, while a transaction was reported at €575 per tonne CFR late last week.
