Northern European steel heavy plate prices increased further during the week to Thursday January 29 on higher offers, but trading remained subdued.
Meanwhile, Italian domestic plate prices were flat for the second consecutive week, despite bullish offers and fresh bookings.
Northern Europe
Prices in Northern Europe moved up in the past seven days amid rising offers and muted import demand because of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) uncertainty and cost considerations.
Higher offers for April and even May shipments were made between €750 ($898) and €820 per tonne ex-works during the pricing session.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe was €750-780 per tonne on Thursday, up by €30 per tonne from €720-750 per tonne a week earlier.
But trading was still subdued, with one distributor source saying that competitive prices for plate cut from coil — being a cheaper option for limited end-use applications — were encouraging some buyer reluctance to accept higher market levels.
Concerns continued to swirl around CBAM, the EU’s newly implemented carbon levy on imports based on embedded emissions, with a trader source describing uncertainty around “not finally defined costs” for CBAM and future tighter safeguard measures.
“[The uncertainty] makes it very difficult on the import side to develop definitive business plans on how to proceed for all types of steel consumers and fabricators with the required certification procedures to handle these regulations,” the trader source told Fastmarkets.
Italy
Italy plate prices in Southern Europe’s domestic market remained stable following fresh deals at €700-720 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe was €700-720 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged week on week.
But Italian re-rollers continued to push for higher market levels, with offers made at €680-750 per tonne ex-works during the week.
One producer source said there were “plenty of sales” in the region, with shipments now rolling into March delivery.
In addition, steel slab import prices to Italy have also moved higher in the past two weeks, largely because of CBAM cost uncertainty.
“The biggest problem for Southern Europe is from where to obtain slab at reasonable prices and quantities as CBAM requires [verified emissions data] and compliance with EU verification requirements,” the trader source said. “This drives up slab import prices.”
