Market sources held different views about future price moves for European HRC.
Notably, some suppliers were mulling price rises, pushing June-delivery HRC offers up to €680 ($737.65) per tonne delivered from €660 per tonne delivered.
Buyers, in their place, said that further price rises could not be justified given a lack of demand.
“Steel safeguards on HRC are not as tough as expected – imports will be back, and a weaker dollar against the euro is also supportive of this,” a buyer source in Germany said.
So far, sources reported only limited restocking activity in Northern Europe, mainly hand-to-mouth activity in the spot market amid subdued consumption.
Buyers in Germany and the Benelux area estimated achievable prices at €630-650 per tonne ex-works.
“Yes, there will be tighter supply [of HRC] in Q2 due to the Salzgitter force majeure, ArcelorMittal maintenance, but the market is not going to miss these tonnages unless demand picks up and we need more steel. A further push to increase [HRC] prices should come from demand,” a second buyer said.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €636.19 per tonne on Thursday, up by €0.10 per tonne from €636.09 per tonne on Wednesday.
The Northern European index was up by €5.25 per tonne week on week and by €32.86 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €620.00 per tonne on Thursday, down negligibly by €0.33 per tonne from €620.33 per tonne on Wednesday.
The index was stable week on week and up by €26.43 per tonne month on month
Offers for May-delivery HRC from two Italian suppliers were reported at €620-640 per tonne delivered (€610-630 per tonne ex-works).
Italian buyers estimated tradeable values at €600-620 per tonne ex-works on Thursday.
One source even said that producers might have to step back to €600-620 per tonne delivered (590-610 per tonne ex-works) shortly, because HRC imports “are coming back.”
Earlier this week, new adjustments to steel safeguard measures in the EU were revealed with HRC restrictions that were deemed to be not tough enough.
As for imports, sources reported May-shipment HRC offers from Indonesia at €540-550 per tonne CFR.
And from Turkey, two buyer sources both reported offers at €580-590 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
“Turkey has a big quota they don’t fully use, so they remain a safe option. And Indonesia [and] Malaysia offers at really competitive prices now, especially considering the weaker dollar against the euro,” a third buyer source said.
