Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €618.88 ($676) per tonne on Friday, down by €0.14 per tonne from €619.02 on Thursday.
The index was down by €1.62 per tonne week on week and by €14.25 per tonne month on month.
Trading in the region was extremely quiet due to the holiday season, with even steady offers rare, sources said.
Buyer sources estimated the workable prices at €600-620 per tonne ex-works.
But buyers and sellers have been holding back in the week to Friday, monitoring the situation.
Producer sources said that post-summer price increases were likely to be necessary because they have been operating “below the cost line.”
But slow demand for steel remains a “big red flag” for the market, one producer source told Fastmarkets.
“We have low demand [for steel] caused by low production of cars and a weak construction [sector]. And Germany is fearing another recession just because of these problems,” the producer source added.
In addition, more and more market participants are questioning the future of the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
“Demand for e-cars has crashed,” a buyer source in the region said.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy unchanged at €618.13 per tonne on Friday.
The index was down by €2.50 per tonne week on week and by €10.20 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was also in “holiday mode,” with activity expected to resume at the end of August or in early September, sources said.
Buyers estimated workable prices at €600-620 per tonne ex-works and even below €600 per tonne ex-works for bigger tonnages.
But some sources said that local suppliers were likely to attempt a price rise after the summer break in expectations of the traditional rebound of trading.
Others said the anti-dumping (AD) investigation launched by the European Commission against HRC from Egypt, Vietnam, Japan and India was also likely to support a rebound in prices.
Doubts remained, however, over whether the AD probe would have any immediate effect on the market.
“First, the demand [for steel] must come back; second, the domestic mills must increase the price [of HRC],” a buyer in Europe said.
The market for imported coil was also largely quiet, with no new offers from Asia heard on Friday.
Turkish HRC for September-October shipment was on offer at €570-590 per tonne CFR, including the AD duty.
And HRC from Ukraine was on offer to Italy at €565-575 per tonne CFR.
Two sources said a small deal for India-origin HRC to Italy was done at $625 per tonne CFR in the week to Friday.