Mills have closed for summer holidays until mid-August and sources expect demand to be flat for the next six weeks.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €655.83 ($729.59) per tonne on July 24, down by €0.42 per tonne from €656.25 per tonne on July 21.
The latest calculation of the Northern European index was down by €14.17 per tonne week on week and by €17.47 per tonne month on month.
Buyer estimates for Northern European HRC were reported at €650-660 per tonne EXW on Monday.
“The market is deadly quiet with the summer holidays having fully started,” a trader source in the region said. “I don’t expect any price movements till September.”
Fastmarkets calculated the corresponding daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy at €645.00 per tonne on July 24, up by €6.67 per tonne from €638.33 per tonne on July 21.
The Italian index was down by €11.25 per tonne week on week and by €8.75 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, buyers reported achievable HRC prices for delivery at the end of September and beginning of October at €640-660 per tonne EXW.
The Italian market was quiet because of seasonality and weak demand.
HRC offers from Asian mills were reported at $580 per tonne CFR to Italy for September-October shipment.
Published by: India-Inés Levy
