Mood in the EU HRC market remains bearish on weak demand

Sentiment in the European hot-rolled coil market was bearish on April 4 due to weak demand and oversupply.

On April 4 Northwest European HRC prices remained stable after a Eur25/mt drop a day earlier.

The decline was driven by lower offers from the mills that have been struggling to fill May order books.

“The offers drop shows that the mills are desperate to fill order books and they are willing to drop the prices,” a German service center said. “They should have reduced production.”

Majority of market sources agreed that the production cuts and blast furnace stoppages are the only solution to prevent the price collapse.

Market participants believe that the domestic HRC prices would reach Eur600/mt ex-works by the end of April.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe unchanged on day at Eur640/mt ex-works Ruhr on April 4.

Tradable values were reported at Eur630-640/mt ex-works Ruhr with majority of data heard at Eur640/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Offers from integrated mills have been heard at Eur650-670/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in South Europe down by Eur15/mt on the day to Eur620/mt ex-works Italy on April 4.

The assessment was based on tradable values heard at Eur615-625/mt ex-works Italy.

Maria Tanatar

spglobal.com