Offers for July-delivery HRC in Northern Europe were heard at €640-660 ($695-716) per tonne ex-works on Tuesday.
Sources noted, however, that several suppliers could offer prompt delivery for the end of June, indicating weak order books.
“Some suppliers are looking for quick deals for late-June [delivery] So, order books are not really dull due to low demand,” a buyer in Germany said.
Bids and buyers’ estimations of achievable prices were heard at €620-640 per tonne ex-works.
“We are trying to book HRC for July delivery at €620-630 [per tonne ex-works],” a second buyer in the region said.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €636.50 ($690.83) per tonne on Tuesday, down by €0.87 per tonne from the previous calculation at €637.37 per tonne on May 24.
Fastmarkets’ European HRC indices were not published on Monday because of the Spring Bank Holiday in the UK.
The index was down by €2.25 per tonne week on week, but up by €6.08 per tonne month on month.
Import offers were reported at €620 per tonne CFR Antwerp from Egypt and at the same level from Turkey, including the anti-dumping duty.
Fastmarkets’ corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €630.00 per tonne on Tuesday, unchanged since May 24.
The index was down by €3.75 per tonne week on week, but up by €9.37 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, the spot market was also quiet, and buyers’ stocks were reported to be “high compared to acute trading activity level,” a steel-service center source said.
A local steelmaker was maintaining its offers at €670 per tonne delivered (€660 per tonne ex-works), but transaction prices were still lagging behind offers, with tradeable values heard at €640-650 per tonne delivered (€630-640 per tonne ex-works) for July-delivery HRC.
Bids were reported at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Import offers for Asia-origin HRC with mainly August shipment were reported at €600-620 per tonne CFR, with some sources reporting lower values — €580-590 per tonne CFR — for Vietnam-origin HRC.
From Turkey, July-shipment HRC was offered to Italy around €600-610 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty. Sources reported bookings within the mentioned level to the Iberian market about a week ago.
“Turkish mills have quick shipment and no problems with quotas, so they’ve become very active in Europe lately,” a European buyer said.
