In Northern Europe, integrated mills maintained their offers at €560-580 ($624-646) per tonne ex-works or delivered.
But sources told Fastmarkets that, for tonnages of 1,000 tonnes or more, it was possible to get €530-550 per tonne ex-works.
“Mills desperately need volumes to fulfill their order books,” one buyer source told Fastmarkets.
At the same time, buyers in Europe were mainly booking small lots of HRC to fill gaps in their stocks.
“Demand [from end-user sectors] is low and [HRC] prices are declining, so why book big tonnages if tomorrow you can buy cheaper?” a distributor in Germany said. “And mills can offer really short lead times [for HRC], so there is no rush.”
Sources told Fastmarkets that steel service centers and distributors were tending to destock, and there was tough competition downstream, which was also putting pressure on HRC prices.
And despite producer sources claiming that HRC prices are already at cost line for them, there are no signs of the downtrend stopping.
“Raw materials prices are declining, and that immediately opens room for [finished steel prices] to drop more. Order books at the producers are thin, and everyone is hunting for volumes,” a mill source in Northern Europe told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €556.46 per tonne on Friday, down by €3.15 per tonne from €559.61 per tonne on Thursday.
The index was down by €9.79 per tonne week on week and by €55.62 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy at €557.50 per tonne on Friday, stable day on day.
But the Italian index was down by €12.50 per tonne week on week and by €50.00 per tonne month on month.
One Italian supplier was heard offering HRC at €580 per tonne delivered, which nets back to €570 per tonne ex-works.
Estimates of the tradable value were heard at €550-560 per tonne ex-works, but bookings were limited, and sources said that, just like in Northern Europe, it was possible to negotiate lower prices for larger tonnages.
“European mills really negotiate prices case by case,” a buyer in Italy said.
One European supplier was heard selling HRC to Italy at €560 per tonne delivered in the week to Friday.
And HRC from Asia and Turkey was on offer to Italy for late-October-November shipment at €540-550 per tonne CFR, sources told Fastmarkets.
But overseas suppliers have not been very active in the European market recently due to the small gap to local prices, EU trade restrictions and the fact that European buyers are not willing to build up large volumes of stock.
“In principle, [non-EU] mills are reluctant to spread around [HRC] offers that could be quickly undermined by EU mills, which are constantly lowering their prices,” a second buyer said.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
