Northern European and Italian domestic HRC markets remained largely quiet on Wednesday July 22, with limited activity ahead of the summer holiday period. Prices edged down in Northern Europe despite higher buyer indications being included due to thin liquidity, while Italian prices were unchanged amid a lack of fresh transactions.
In Northern Europe, a buyer reported latest deals at €710 ($810) per tonne ex-works on Wednesday, for September delivery and an order of a couple of thousand tonnes. The same source said offers were at €740 per tonne ex-works, adding those were “not accepted” in the market yet, so they were discarded from July 22’s index.
A second buyer reported an indication of achievable levels at €720 per tonne ex-works, while a third buyer provided an indication at €720-730 per tonne ex-works on the same day. Although these levels were above the latest deals, they were included in the index calculation because of limited market activity.
Some market participants were off on Wednesday, and the market remained quiet throughout the day. No significant new moves were announced by suppliers ahead of the summer holiday period.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €711.14 per tonne on July 22, down by €1.15 per tonne from €712.29 per tonne on July 21.
The index was up by €1.14 per tonne week on week and by €29.89 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, a supplier reported deals for HRC at €740-750 per tonne delivered (€725-735 per tonne ex-works), saying that they “see transaction price for decent quality at €740 base [per tonne] delivered minimum.”
However, the same source could not name any specific supplier selling material at this price, and it was discarded in Wednesday’s index due to low confidence and a lack of corroboration from other market participants.
No other price points were received on July 22, as the market was mostly quiet ahead of the summer holidays.
The latest deals in the market were reported in the range of €700-710 per tonne ex-works on Monday and Tuesday.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy was €702.50 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged day on day.
The index was up by €1.50 per tonne week on week and by €28.12 per tonne month on month.
Latest HRC import activity into Southern Europe was reported on July 22, including a deal at €605-610 per tonne CFR from Egypt, while India offered material at €552-556 per tonne CFR, but market participants could not confirm this lower level.
The corresponding Fastmarkets weekly assessment for steel hot-rolled coil import, cfr main port Southern Europe was €570-615 per tonne on July 22, narrowing downward by €30 per tonne from €570-645 per tonne a week earlier.
