European domestic hot-rolled coil prices rose April 3 as sources discussed the impact of the latest US tariffs and the underlying bullish supply-side factors driving the market.
Although spot liquidity remained thin, higher mill offers continued to captivate market participants’ attention April 3, as responses to the latest round of US tariffs were largely mixed about the scope of the impact.
In response to higher offers, a mill source, seeing the market closer to Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr, said, “We had heard some other participants increase their offers by Eur10, but in reality, nobody is paying much higher than that, Eur700/mt seems unreachable, at last, for now.”
A distributor discussing the latest US tariffs shared expectations of a minimal price impact but rather further contributions to the uncertain atmosphere among buyers and traders amid a volatile US dollar. “I don’t think it will have devastating developments, and the EU steel industry will digest this quite easily—maybe we’ll see more emotional reactions or an impact on specialized steel flows, at most,” the distributor said.
In response to higher EU mill offers, the same distributor said, “Eur700/mt [EXW Ruhr] is not workable yet, but the market is moving to a closer balance on industry demand and production as capacity falls.”
Other market participants pointed to hesitancy to buy imports due to the quota risk at the moment amid expectations that, with the lower limits’ prices, the refreshed quarterly quotas will close significantly sooner than in prior quarters despite limited demand.
This is anticipated to add further support to domestic producers, with several midstream buyers suggesting that prices for HRC could hit Eur700/mt and above in Northern Europe in the second half of the year.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur645/mt EXW Ruhr April 3 and HRC in Southern Europe at Eur630/mt EXW Italy, both up Eur5 from April 2.
Platts assessed HRC CIF Antwerp at Eur550/mt and HRC Southern Europe at Eur545/mt CIF Italy, stable with April 2.
