The lull in purchasing activity among northwestern European coil buyers is continuing into August, and it is very unlikely that prices will pick up during the rest of the month.
Buyers in Germany and Benelux see the current level of prices for hot-rolled coil at roughly around €730/tonne ($842/t) delivered, and just above €700/t on an ex-works-basis for smaller volumes. “I have not heard that any bigger deals are being negotiated, not now or in the last two weeks,” one trader tells Kallanish.
According to a manager of a service centre, price offers range from €730-€760/t, but he says that even the lower end cannot be translated to resale prices that his customers would be prepared to buy. Consequently, buyers are refraining from larger restocking purchases.
“I am only on stand-by now, and so is everybody else, until the last coil has left the inventory,” he says.
The low values seen in June have been left behind, but the resurge has paused before reaching the previous peaks seen in April and May, a buyer of a construction company says.
He also sees no reason to expect an increase in the next weeks, “when people are on holiday”. He predicts that mills will try for another round of hikes, probably €25-30/t at the end of August. “But I wonder if the large customers will have the demand so that hikes can be asserted. I think the chances are weak,” he says.
Author: Christian Koehl Germany
