Tighter EU steel safeguard measures could help stabilise European domestic prices, especially for cold rolled and hot-dip galvanized coil, sources tell Kallanish.
A spokesman from a European coil mill points to the new “other country” quota caps for CRC and HDG. The quarterly CRC quota of over 330,000 tonnes will now be capped at 13% per origin, while for coated coil the cap is 20% or 25%, depending on whether passivated or oiled. “This will affect imports from major exporters like Vietnam and Thailand,” the spokesman notes.
One trader concurs, saying the new quota system “snipes” the most disruptive trade flows, for hot rolled coil from Japan, galv from Vietnam, and CRC from Turkey.
The mill source says he is sure this will positively influence the price premiums of domestic CRC and HDG. He sees the current premium for HDG at a maximum of €100 ($108) over HRC, and that of CRC at a maximum of €90. Assuming a current HRC price of €640/t ex-works, CRC, in his view, currently reaches a maximum of €730/t, and HDG to €740/t.
One Dutch buyer sees even higher offers, but other sources see most transaction prices at €20/t below those maximum levels.
A German source tells of a recent offer from India for over 550 tonnes of HRC at €545/t cif Bremen, with no extra duties involved.
Christian Koehl Germany
