But, on a firm bid, producers were reportedly ready to accept lower prices, namely €680-690 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers’ estimates of achievable prices were heard at €660-690 per tonne ex-works.
A booking of HRC from Central Europe to Germany was reported at €690 per tonne delivered, with freight estimated around €50 per tonne.
Nevertheless, overall trading remained extremely slow in the region, with sources mainly reporting hand-to-mouth booking for limited tonnages.
“There is no trading. Everyone is on a wait-and-see mode because mills have shown resistance on lowering prices despite falling raw materials costs,” a steel-service center source in the Benelux area said.
“Mills will need to cut production to find a [supply-demand] balance, but there are no [official announcements] yet. [European steelmakers] will need time,” the source added.
Declining prices for iron ore and coking coal have been putting additional pressure on finished steel prices, sources said.
The downtrend in raw materials “is one of the key reasons why steel prices are under pressure,” a buyer source in Germany said. “Mills still have room to decrease [HRC] prices, and there is a perception that rock bottom is yet to be touched, so buyers keep a low profile.”
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €683.96 ($744.44) per tonne on Tuesday, down by €5.04 per tonne day on day from €689.00 per tonne.
The index was down by €15.12 per tonne week on week and by €41.04 per tonne month on month.
Short-term expectations were quite pessimistic, buyer sources said, adding that they expect HRC prices to keep sliding down.
“Demand is showing no signs of improving and bookings are very slow [from sectors such as] automotive, construction, mechanical engineering — everything is very quiet,” a mill source said.
“There is some demand [for steel] from the renewable energy sector, but it’s not enough to compensate for the lack of demand from other industries,” the mill source added.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €668.75 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €1.25 per tonne day on day from €670.00 per tonne.
The index was down by €6.25 per tonne week on week and by €54.58 per tonne month on month.
HRC offers from an integrated supplier in Italy for April-May delivery were heard at €680-690 per tonne delivered, which nets back to about €670-680 per tonne ex-works.
But buyers’ ideas of workable prices were lower, with bids reported at €660-670 per tonne delivered (equivalent to €650-660 per tonne ex-works).
Sources reportedly limited activity in the market, with buyers preferring to book only small tonnages of HRC and expecting prices to drop further.
Import HRC offers from Indonesia, Japan and India to Italy were reported at €600 per tonne CFR.
Offers from Vietnam were heard at €580 per tonne CFR, while two sources pointed out that prices in the range of €560-570 per tonne were “achievable” for Vietnamese material.
Late-May shipment was heard available from most overseas suppliers.
