Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €628.58 ($686.37) per tonne on Friday, up by €0.45 per tonne from €628.13 per tonne on Thursday July 18.
The index was down by €3.55 per tonne week on week and by €2.30 per tonne month on month.
Integrated mills in the region were reportedly selling HRC with lead times of four to five weeks at €620-640 per tonne ex-works, while offers were in the range of €625-650 per tonne ex-works for such material.
A German integrated mill was selling HRC with lead times of four weeks at €625 per tonne ex-works, sources said.
For HRC with lead times in October, a supplier in the Benelux area voiced offers at €660 per tonne ex-works, compared with €640-650 per tonne ex-works for August to September delivery coil.
Another major European mill was looking to achieve €670 per tonne ex-works for HRC with September-October lead times.
Higher offers have not yet turned into deals, sources said.
“That is [a typical] tactic of the European mills — to push offers up, expecting trading to pick up after summer break. However, it doesn’t seem likely that the market will be ready for higher prices, since consumption doesn’t show any signs of a rebound,” a German buyer said.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €620.42 per tonne on Friday, stable day on day.
The index was down by €5.58 per tonne week on week and by €7.71 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was also seasonally quiet, and prices were largely unmoved, but sources said that local integrated mills were also aiming for post-summer price rises.
“All activities are muted — it’s a holiday season in Europe,” an Italian buyer said. “There is talk of a €20 per tonne price rise [for HRC] from [a local supplier] for September, but it’s too early to say what market would look like after the holidays.”
In the week to Friday, HRC with lead times of four to five weeks was still being offered by a local supplier at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which corresponds to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Buyer sources estimated achievable prices at no higher than €610-620 per tonne ex-works, with sporadic trades reported at €620 per tonne ex-works in the week to Friday.
Offers of HRC from Turkey were available at €600-610 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
