European suppliers of steel hot-rolled coil remained optimistic on Wednesday February 11, testing the market with higher offer prices. Meanwhile, however, buyers continued to resist higher prices, claiming that they did not need to restock.
A German supplier was offering April-delivery coil at €680 ($808) per tonne ex-works, but market sources considered this price unworkable.
Earlier this week, an offer from a leading European steelmaker was reported at €700 per tonne delivered (around €685 per tonne ex-works).
Buyers, however, were estimating achievable prices no higher than €650-660 per tonne ex-works, citing slow downstream sales.
“We do not need to restock now. [We need] only hand-to-mouth bookings to cover gaps in supply,” a steel service centre in Germany told Fastmarkets.
“Automotive demand is not improving. There is no chance to push higher offers [for coil] downstream,” another source in Germany said.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €652.50 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €1.67 per tonne from €654.17 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was, however, up by €1.50 per tonne week on week and by €17.50 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €647.17 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €2.17 per tonne from €645.00 per tonne on Tuesday.
The index was down by €0.33 per tonne week on week, but up by €17.17 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, offers of April-delivery HRC were heard around €660 per tonne ex-works. But earlier this week, trade sources said that some suppliers were testing the market with offers about €685 per tonne ex-works.
Buyer-side estimates of a workable market level were heard at €645-650 per tonne ex-works, supported by deals within that range.
One trader said that lead times for HRC in Italy were still eight weeks but did not extend further.
