Italy
Deals for domestic steel S235-grade plate in Italy were heard in the range of €740-770 ($868-903) per tonne ex-works. Sales at €740-750 per tonne were reported for deliveries to large stockholders for May-June, while the upper end of the range, at €760-770 per tonne, was linked to offers and transactions with smaller customers.
One trader said deals below €770 per tonne EXW must be “exceptional,” but this was not supported by information from other market sources.
The reported levels were down from deals heard a week earlier at €750-790 per tonne EXW, amid subdued demand for plate in the country.
June production was “still largely open”, according to a distributor, who said that “overall buying activity remained slow.”
One of the largest steel plate re-rollers in northern Italy was reported to have paused production in May, with plans to restart in early June, market sources said.
Fastmarkets contacted the producer but had not received a response by the time of publication.
“There is a lack of orders for Italian plate. They [re-rollers] want the cheap stock of slab to last longer and are not forcing sales,” a trader said.
A second re-roller in northern Italy was also reported to have paused production following an unplanned stoppage in late March, a source at the producer said.
“We can’t comment on the exact restart date, it should be in late May or the beginning of June,” the source told Fastmarkets on Thursday, citing an unplanned technical issue that led to extended extraordinary maintenance.
“Quarto producers and re-rollers face more difficult times as there is, for the time being, no real demand. Stockholders and end-users only purchase missing dimensions and grades,” a second trader said regarding the market situation.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was €740-770 per tonne on Thursday, down from €750-790 per tonne a week earlier.
No fresh offers or transactions were reported for imported plate during the week.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel plate (8-40mm), import, cfr main port Southern Europe, was €700-750 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged week on week.
Northern Europe
Steel heavy plate prices in Germany declined slightly during the week, with a wider range of deals reported.
Transactions were heard at €810-850 per tonne EXW. Most deals were linked to €810-840 per tonne, while some orders at €850 per tonne were also achievable, market sources said.
This was down from deals heard a week earlier at €840-860 per tonne EXW. One trader said workable prices should not fall below €840 per tonne, but other sources reported lower indications.
“Workable prices continue to vary significantly between producers,” a distributor said.
Sources told Fastmarkets that prices had risen too quickly in recent weeks, leaving fabricators, service centers and end users with limited time to adjust to the situation.
“The second quarter is supposed to be well booked. Generally, customers, end users and fabricators are still uncertain [about] which trend the market might take. Therefore, they now purchase majorly commodity grades [in the] 12-40 mm [range],” a fourth trader said on Thursday.
The same trader added that demand was “simply not there yet”, with the recent price increase driven more by geopolitical tensions involving the US, Israel and Iran than by the level of demand.
“End users are still adjusting to the mid-March price increase, which pushed S235/S275 offers to around or slightly above €800 per tonne EXW. Since then, high distributor inventories and weak demand have kept prices largely stable,” the fourth trader told Fastmarkets.
Italian domestic plate prices remained below German levels in March and April. Market sources attributed the price gap to freight costs from northern Italy to the Ruhr region, which were estimated at €80-90 per tonne, driven largely by higher fuel prices and trucking rates in Europe.
“So even the minimum level from Italy, €750 base per tonne EXW means delivered in Germany at €830 base,” an Italian producer source said.
A fifth trader said German mills can maintain higher EXW prices because their domestic freight costs are significantly lower than those faced by Italian re- rollers.
“Secondly, their product is more sophisticated, generally cut edges, suppliers’ declaration, and on top, they fill their production with non-commodity volumes, which re-rollers cannot produce,” the trader added.
A sixth trader said the quality of German plates was, on average, higher than that of Italian plate, citing steel cleanness and technical factors such as residual surface defects and flatness.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €810-850 per tonne on Thursday, down from €840-860 a week earlier.
Import offers for S355 grade plate were heard from Indonesia at €820 per tonne FCA Antwerp, while Indian suppliers were offering S355 material at €890 per tonne CFR Antwerp, attracting “little interest,” market sources said.
Fastmarkets did not include these offers in its assessment because they did not meet the specifications outlined in the methodology.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel plate (8-40mm), import, cfr main port Northern Europe, was €700-750 per tonne on Thursday, unchanged week on week.
Author: Ivelina Nikolova
