The European hot-rolled coil market was at a standstill on Tuesday September 9, with prices steady amid subdued trading, sources told Fastmarkets.
In Northern Europe, HRC prices have been stabilizing in recent days after suppliers managed to push through modest increased at the end of July and in early August. Since then, domestic prices have been broadly stable, with a second round of proposed increased unsuccessful so far.
“Momentum has stalled,” a buyer in Germany said. “[European suppliers] started with [HRC] offers at €620 per tonne delivered three weeks ago, stating [at the time that] it was not possible to [accept] a single euro less, but now [HRC is being sold] at €600 per tonne delivered.
“Demand is not strong enough to keep the momentum going,” the buyer said.
In Germany and the Benelux area, most buyers estimated the tradable level at around €570-580 per tonne ex-works, although one buyer estimated the workable price at €600 per tonne delivered (around €585 per tonne ex-works).
Offers for October-November delivery coil, meanwhile, stood at €600-630 per tonne ex-works. For December, one supplier was said to be aiming for €650 per tonne ex-works. But several market participants told Fastmarkets that that higher offers were “on hold” because of the lack of buying interest.
“We will see how the market develops. So far, uncertainty around the EU’s [Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism] (CBAM) and new safeguards helped to push [HRC] prices slightly higher in Europe, but demand still slow, so a new round of increases is not happening,” a buyer in the Netherlands said.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of the daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €577.92 per tonne on September 9, up slightly by €0.84 per tonne from €577.08 per tonne on September 8.
The Northern European index was down by €1.87 per tonne week on week, but was up by €2.29 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €549.38 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €1.04 per tonne from €550.42 per tonne on Monday.
The index was down by €0.62 per tonne week on week and by €1.87 per tonne month on month.
Italian buyers were taking cautious approach to new purchases, however, so local mills were also struggling to implement increases.
Offer prices for October delivery HRC were heard at €580-600 per tonne base delivered (€570-585 per tonne ex-works) on Tuesday, but this level was not sealed in deals, sources said.
Buyer estimates of the workable price came in at between €540 per tonne and €550 per tonne ex-works – in line with the most recent transactions.
One buyer source said that transactions at €550 per tonne ex-works were now “rare.”
“Italian mills are struggling to implement a second round of price increases, but they are facing strong resistance from buyers who remain deeply concerned about weak end-user demand,” a local buyer said.
The appetite for imported coil was also limited across Europe, mainly because uncertainty surrounding implementation of the CBAM and the potential for the early introduction of new safeguard measures are continuing to act as a brake on purchasing activity.
Offers from Turkey were reported around €520-540 per tonne CFR, including the EU anti-dumping duty, for late November arrival.
From India, offers were reported at €520-530 per tonne CFR for October-November shipment of HRC. And HRC from Indonesia was on offer at €490 per tonne CFR.
