Steel plate prices largely flat in Italy, further rises questionable

Steel plate prices flattened in Italy in the week to Wednesday September 14 amid moderate buying activity, with further increases questionable, sources told Fastmarkets.
Italy
Steel plate was traded in Italy at €980-1,000 ($987-1,007) per tonne exw during the assessment week, relatively stable over the past seven days.

Traded volumes, however, were still limited because big buyers were largely making hand-to-mouth bookings, sources said.

Further price increases were, therefore, doubtful because end-user demand was also quite slow.

In the secondary market, plate was offered at €1,050-1,100 per tonne cpt, the same as last week.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was €980-1,000 per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing from €970-1,030 per tonne exw on September 7.

Local re-rollers were selling plate to Germany at around €1,000 per tonne exw, which nets back to about €1,050-1,060 per tonne delivered.

Northern Europe
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was at €1,100-1,150 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged since August 31.

The assessment reflected lower end of offers, deals, and market sources’ estimates of achievable prices.

Integrated mills in the region offered plate to the market at €1,150-1,200 per tonne exw, with some of them aiming for €1,200-1,250 per tonne exw, sources said.

Buyers, meanwhile, were looking to pay closer to €1,100 per tonne exw, sources said.

Traded volumes, however, were not big, sources said, mainly because the market was still overstocked with commodity grades.

Local integrated mills enjoyed strong order books, mainly thanks to projects, including those involving offshore wind turbines, shipbuilding and bridge construction.

Alternatively, demand from mechanical engineering industries was quite low.

Several bookings of Italy-origin plate to the region were reported at €1,050-1,060 per tonne cpt during the assessment week, but the volumes were small, sources told Fastmarkets.

Poland-origin plate was offered to the south of Germany at around €1,100 per tonne cpt, sources said.

Published by: Julia Bolotova