In Northern Europe, buyer estimates of the tradable level came in between €620 ($660) and €640 per tonne ex-works.
A German mill reportedly sold HRC at €620 per tonne ex-works on Tuesday, but only for a limited tonnage, sources said.
May deliveries were still available from European mills, which is another indication of weak order books.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €630.00 ($670) per tonne on April 16, down by €8.96 per tonne from €638.96 per tonne on Monday.
The index was also down by €15.83 per tonne week on week and by €62.50 per tonne month on month.
Near-term expectations for prices were largely pessimistic among buyers, mainly due to a lack of real demand.
“Orders from the automotive sector are around 20% down year on year and there are no signs of a rebound, maybe even until the end of 2024,” a distributor in Germany said.
“Producers need to fill order books for the second quarter, they are chosing volumes over prices,” a source at a steel-service center said.
Despite numerous talks about production cuts being the only way to stop the downtrend, European mills were not announcing any immediate equipment stoppages.
Several sources, however, said that one Central European supplier stopped one blast-furnace in the first half of April.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €622.08 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €0.42 per tonne from €622.50 per tonne on Monday.
The Italian index was down by €9.17 per tonne week on week and by €49.59 per tonne month on month.
Activity in the Italian market has also been subdued, sources said, with slow demand continuing to put pressure on prices.
Official offers for May delivery HRC from a local supplier were reported at €640 per tonne delivered on Tuesday, which nets back to 630 per tonne ex-works.
Buyers, however, estimated achievable prices at no higher than €615-620 per tonne ex-works.
No fresh import offers were reported on a Tuesday, sources told Fastmarkets, with Asian mills maintaining their HRC offers at €580-590 per tonne cfr for July-August arrivals.
