Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was €730-750 ($793-814) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged from a week earlier.
Similarly, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was €730-750 per tonne on Wednesday, also stable week on week.
Market participants said that an economic environment of high interest rates and high inflation continued to contribute to weak end-user demand. So trading was sluggish, with little need to restock because of poor demand and “sufficient” stocks at distributors.
Traders said that beams were now being offered for January production, but market sources said that distributors were unwilling to pay higher prices due to pressure on slim margins.
Scrap feedstock costs in Turkey’s bellwether market rose in the week, and month on month, but trading activity was muted later in the pricing period following a flurry of bookings.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $378.93 per tonne on Wednesday, up by $5.78 per tonne week on week from $373.15 per tonne and up by $19.43 per tonne month on month.
Published by: Holly Chant
