Low-priced HRC imports hit European market: Kallanish conference

Europe’s steel market is under pressure from low-priced imports that come in a period of low demand and order activity. At the Kallanish European Steel Markets conference in Amsterdam this week, observers said it is unlikely the market will normalise until after summer.

According to Cesare Vigano, managing director of ArcelorMittal fabricator subsidiary CSN, recent local prices in China of hot rolled coil at $575/tonne are now translating into import offers into Europe at the same level.

An Indian-origin HRC deal is meanwhile rumoured to have been concluded at below €600/t ($652) cfr Italy for delivery in August/September. Panellists agreed this will trigger a significant correction in coil prices in Europe “of at least €50-100”.

With imports assuming such a big role, “the European market will become more and more a double market”, with big gaps in prices and between commodities and higher grades, Vigano noted. Imports will not be confined to commodities, with South Korea and China especially finding buyers in the European automotive industry. Offers from Japan, which entered the scene with an impact last year, have receded somewhat, but not disappeared. Along with India and Taiwan, these five Asian countries account for 80% of imports into Europe currently, Vigano said.

The wave comes at a time of anyway low demand in the continent. “In January/February, we saw a purchasing rush in many countries, but now the market is dead silent,” noted Kallanish southern Europe editor Emanuele Norsa. “We will maybe be back to normal in July, but the question is, what will be the situation in September?”

Christian Koehl Germany