Steel hot-rolled coil prices have inched down in Northern Europe in new deals that have come to light, but sentiment remained bullish, primarily driven by limited availability of imports, with some suppliers already indicating higher offers for third-quarter deliveries, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 31.
A leading European supplier was heard selling HRC aggressively in some parts of Germany and in Poland, several market sources said.
“[A European mill] is selling leftover volumes from May-June delivery coil at prices some €20 [$24] per tonne below the market, apparently to fill gaps in order books. At the same time, indications for July lead times are quite high,” a buyer in Germany said. “We heard an indication of €780 [($917) per tonne delivered] for July delivery [HRC].”
No official offers for July-delivery coil have been confirmed by the mill so far, with most industry sources expecting new indications after Easter.
Delas were heard at €690-700 per tonne ex-works in Germany. In Poland, a transaction was reported even lower – around €695 per tonne CPT.
At the same time, deals were heard at €710-720 per tonne ex-works for small lots of HRC in Germany, from other suppliers.
One German mill kept its offers around €720-730 per tonne ex-works for May-June lead times.
Another German supplier had no spot availability for second-quarter delivery of HRC. Offers for July delivery were €750 per tonne ex-works from that supplier, Fastmarkets understands.
“European mills have big hopes of pushing through new price increases for July – when import [volumes] will be cut in half [because of] new safeguards,” a steel-service center source in Germany said.
Italy-origin coil was traded in Germany at €720-730 per tonne delivered, but suppliers were limiting offered export volumes due to rising freight rates because of the surging gas and oil prices created by the continuing Iran-US-Israel conflict.
Freight rates from northern Italy to southern Germany were estimated at €80 per tonne in late March, compared with around €60 per tonne in February.
In the Benelux area, offers for June delivery coil were heard at €725 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers in Germany and the Benelux area estimated tradeable values at €700-730 per tonne ex-works, depending on tonnage and lead times.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was calculated at €711.50 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €7.25 per tonne from €718.75 per tonne on March 30.
The index was also down by €4.50 per tonne week on week but up by €25.43 per tonne compared with the last day of February.
And Fastmarkets’ steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €697.50 per tonne on March 31, up by €2.50 per tonne from €695.00 per tonne on March 30.
The index was unchanged week on week but up by €28.67 per tonne compared with the last day of February.
Local sources estimated achievable prices at €690-700 per tonne ex-works on Tuesday.
Offers from local suppliers for May-June delivery HRC were heard around €700-705 per tonne ex-works,.
Trading has been slow so far in the week commenced March 30, sources said.
“It’s La Settimana Santa [the Christian holy week before Easter] so customers are mostly in standby mode,” a buyer in Italy said.
“Activity is weak, but mills are really not in a rush to sell and buyers have sufficient inventories, so it’s a standstill,” a seller source said.
New offers of imported coil have, meanwhile, were limited and pricey due to soaring logistics costs, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and new uncertainty on the safeguards.
“Basically, only Turkey and Algeria are in the market with HRC offers to Europe,” one trade source said.
Late in the week commenced March 23, Turkish coil was heard booked to Italy around €610-620 per tonne CFR, including anti-dumping duty but excluding CBAM costs.
From Algeria, offers were heard around €680-690 per tonne CFR to Spain, which was deemed unworkable by buyers.
