Italian domestic CRC, HDG rises on high import offers, good order books

Domestic prices for cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil in South Europe increased in the week to Feb. 1 supported by higher import offers and good order books of the European mills.

Platts assessed domestic prices of cold-rolled coil in Italy at Eur845/mt ex-works Italy, up Eur15/mt week on week.

Market participants estimated tradable values at Eur840-860/mt ex-works Italy, with offers reported at the equivalent of Eur880/mt ex-works South Europe.

Import offers for CRC in Italy were reported at Eur800-810/mt CIF Italy from India and Far East mills.

Platts assessed domestic prices of hot-dipped galvanized coil in South Europe at Eur865/mt ex-works Italy on Feb. 1, up Eur15/mt week on week.

The assessment was based on achievable prices heard at Eur850-880/mt ex-works Italy.

Domestic prices for downstream coil products were supported by good order books of the European mills. With the steelmakers having sold out the first-quarter rolling coil, they were reported to offer second-quarter production material.

In addition, the availability of CRC was seen reduced by some steelmakers in both Germany and Italy with some mills not offering the material. According to market sources, those steelmakers were focused on the production and sales of HDG material.

“The mills try to sell more coated steel, as the material has higher added value, which is normal,” a German distributor said. “And there are some new galvanizing lines running, while cold-rolling capacities were unchanged, so there is less CRC in the market.”

Platts assessed domestic prices of cold-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur855/mt ex-works Ruhr on Feb. 1, up Eur5/mt day on day, but down Eur20/mt week on week.

The assessment was based on tradable values heard around Eur850-860/mt ex-works Ruhr. However, official offers of Eur880-900/mt ex-works Ruhr were deemed “unrealistic” by several market sources.

Import offers were reported at Eur830-840/mt CIF Antwerp for the material from Asia.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-dipped galvanized coil in the region at Eur890/mt ex-works Ruhr, down Eur35/mt week on week.

Tradable values and offers were reported at Eur850-900/mt ex-works Ruhr and Eur900-920/mt ex-works Ruhr, respectively.

The drop in the domestic prices of the CRC and HDG in the Platts assessments was caused by the absence of unrealistic high offers from mills seen in the previous week and buyers’ cautious bearish stance.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Maria Tanatar