EC notifies Vietnam of HRC dumping complaint
The European Commission said it has notified Vietnam that it has received a complaint for the initiation of an anti-dumping investigation into imports of hot-rolled coils (HRC).
The commission did not identify who filed the complaint against Vietnam.
Should a probe be launched, the commission may decide to pick a sample of exporters to investigate because of the large number of producers from Vietnam.
Market participants have expected an EU investigation into Vietnamese HRC imports since volumes started picking up. Last year Vietnamese imports of HRC into the EU rose to 1.13mn t, from 400,000t in 2022. Vietnam has frequently been the lowest-priced supplier on the market, targeting primarily large buyers and pure commodity grade coils. Since the launch of the Argus HRC cif Italy origin differentials earlier this year, Vietnam has traded at a discount.
There is talk that an investigation into Vietnamese hot-dip galvanised (HDG) could be launched too, and a probe into HRC imports from major ‘other countries’ such as Taiwan, Japan and Egypt..
Vietnam itself has this week launched a dumping investigation on imports of HRC from China and India and previously into HDG from China.
By Lora Stoyanova
European HRC prices remain mostly steady on weak demand, muted activity
In the first half of this year, demand for flat steel products has been lower compared to last year, primarily due to unfavorable market fundamentals stemming from slow growth in both the automotive and construction industries.
Similarly, consumer demand for imported coils has remained mostly muted due to the implementation of EU safeguard measures. There has been some interest in coils of Turkish origin, mainly due to comparable lead times, sources said.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr July 26, down Eur5/mt.
Tradable values were reported at Eur610-640/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Italy July 26.
Tradable values were reported at Eur620/mt.
Geraint Moody | Devbrat Saha
HRC prices hold across Europe; Australia-origin cargo booked to Italy
Offers of HRC in Northern Europe were reported at €640-670 ($698-731) per tonne ex-works or delivered for August-September delivery, but buyers’ price ideas were heard no higher than €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Some bids were even reported at €600 per tonne ex-works, but mills in the region were reluctant to accept such low prices.
In general, trading in the region remained dull, and the spot market continued to be “heavily oversupplied,” sources said.
“The automotive industry is taking less volumes [of HRC], so extra tonnages go to the spot market,” a buyer in Germany said.
The effects of new EU import safeguard measures were yet to be felt in the market, and sources said it would take them “six to nine months to clear [import] tonnages which are currently in the pipeline.”
“Nobody is missing [HRC] volumes in Europe — on the contrary, mills are fighting for every single tonne, so a price increase is only wishful thinking of mills,” a buyer in the Benelux area said.
Negotiations with the automotive industry for contracts for the second half of 2024 were still under way, sources said, with no progress reported so far.
“Mills and buyers are just dragging time,” a consumer source in Germany said.
For the first half of 2024, HRC contracts with original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry have reportedly been signed at €750-800 per tonne.
Buyers have reportedly been seeking discounts of €100 per tonne for the second half of the year, while producers are aiming for a rollover, sources said.
“No rollover is possible [for contract prices in the second half of 2024], the gap with spot [prices] will be too wide,” a second source in Germany said. “But, equally, a €100 per tonne discount is very unlikely.”
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €631.25 ($688.26) per tonne on Tuesday, flat from Monday July 15.
The index was down by €1.88 per tonne week on week and by €3.75 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €620.00 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €5.00 per tonne from €625.00 per tonne on Monday.
The index was down by €8.33 per tonne week on week and by €11.88 per tonne month on month.
An integrated mill in Italy was heard offering August-September delivery coil at €640-650 per tonne delivered in the country, which nets back to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Bids for such material were heard at €600-610 per tonne delivered, but European mills deemed such prices as “unworkable.”
Transactions were heard done from a re-roller in Italy at €620 per tonne ex-works for small lots of coil.
A cargo of HRC from Australia was booked to Italy at €580 per tonne CFR recently, sources said.
“[Australia] is an unusual origin for Italy to book from, but with key major suppliers [Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Egypt] basically out of the game due to new [EU import] safeguards, it was only a matter of time for new suppliers to emerge,” a buyer in Italy said.
No new offers were reported from Asia.
Sources reported HRC offers from India and Saudi Arabia at €595-605 per tonne CFR to Italy.
European HRC market experiences quiet start to the week
The price of European domestic hot-rolled coil remained largely unchanged, as the industry is now in the holiday season, with many market participants currently out.
Some market sources believe that mills are still attempting to test the market by increasing prices, but others remain skeptical, stating that consumer interest is not present enough in the market for there to be any change.
“I think European mills will definitely try to increase prices,” one trader said.
“Market is still too low and will be for the rest of the year,” a service center source said. “There is no activity in the market.”
With demand remaining low and supply remaining well ahead in Europe, some market sources have commented that mills are struggling to find orders.
“The market is flat, mills are desperate for quantities,” a distributor said. As long as consumption doesn’t pick up, there will not be any change in prices, the distributor added.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 15.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe also stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Italy on July 15.
Some indications were heard for carbon accounted steel, with an offer for premium reported at Eur95-140/mt, with a CO2 content around 0mt at scopes 1-2.
Platts assessed the carbon-accounted premium for HRC in Europe down Eur5/mt on the day at Eur120/mt July 15.
Geraint Moody
European HRC prices largely flat despite mills’ attempts to raise offers
Several sources said that European mills were aiming for a price increase of around €20 ($22) per tonne for HRC with lead times early in the fourth quarter.
Offers from some integrated mills in northern Europe for such material were heard at €650-670 per tonne ex-works or delivered.
But sources said that €630-640 per tonne ex-works for September-delivery coil was still “negotiable.”
Italy-origin coil for September delivery was heard offered to Germany at €650-660 per tonne delivered.
“Mills try to raise prices, but distributors take a wait-and-see mode,” a buyer in the Benelux area said.
But sources said that most mills still have not closed order books for September-delivery coil, so a price increase was still uncertain.
“Order books for September still need to be filled, [most] mills need orders, so this push for an increase doesn’t look realistic,” a buyer source in Germany said.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €632.50 per tonne on Thursday, up slightly by €0.83 per tonne from €631.67 on Wednesday July 10.
The index was up by €1.37 per tonne week on week but down by €2.92 per tonne month on month.
Industry sources once again claimed that steel output cuts could be “a real game changer” for the oversupplied European HRC market, but integrated suppliers have not confirmed any equipment stoppages so far.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €626.25 per tonne on Thursday, down by €2.50 per tonne from €628.75 per tonne on Wednesday.
The index was up by €2.50 per tonne week on week but down by €5.00 per tonne month on month.
In Italy, September-delivery HRC was offered by a local supplier at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which corresponds to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Buyer sources estimated achievable prices at slightly lower levels – €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
But trading in Italy was sluggish, with mainly hand-to-mouth booking for small tonnages reported in the week.
The import HRC market was also silent; key Asian suppliers – Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan – have exceeded their allocation for third-quarter deliveries, Fastmarkets reported.
Offers of HRC from Turkey were available at €610 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
European HRC market remains quiet, prices broadly unmoved
Trading in the spot HRC market across Europe was close to nil on Friday. Buyers have been cautious with making new bookings, due to uncertainty over the price direction after the summer months.
Besides, most buyers have sufficient stocks and no immediate need to book new volumes, Fastmarkets heard.
“Consumption remains low; we can work with the level of stock we have. [The level of stock] is still quite high at some distributors and steel service centers, and we see fierce competition downstream,” one buyer in Europe told Fastmarkets.
For September-delivery HRC, integrated steelmakers in Europe mainly maintained offers at stable levels of around €630-650 ($684-706) per tonne ex-works, while tradeable values for such material were heard from buyer sources at €620-630 per tonnne ex-works.
For October delivery, some suppliers are targeting price hikes of around €20 per tonne, but market fundamentals are unsupportive of any price rise, according to sources.
“The market is oversupplied. Mills need to fill order books and this talk about price rises is not convincing – there is not enough demand,” a second buyer said.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €632.13 per tonne on Friday, down slightly by €0.37 per tonne from €632.50 on Thursday.
The index was up by €1.13 per tonne week on week but down by €3.08 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy at €626.00 per tonne on Friday, down by €0.25 per tonne from €626.25 per tonne on Thursday.
The index was up by €1.90 per tonne week on week but down by €5.88 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was also quiet, with buyers mainly keeping at sidelines.
September-delivery HRC was still being offered by a local supplier at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which corresponds to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Buyer sources estimated achievable prices at no higher than €620-630 per tonne ex-works, with sporadic trades reported at €620-625 per tonne ex-works in the week to Friday.
New import HRC offers were scarce. Key Asian suppliers – Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan – have exceeded their allocation for third-quarter deliveries, Fastmarkets reported.
Offers of HRC from Turkey were available at €610 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
From Japan, offers were heard at €600-610 per tonne CFR, for September-shipment coil.
Two sources reported an offer from South Korea at $660 per tonne CFR to Southern Europe.
European HRC prices remain unchanged amid persistent demand lull
European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil remained stable July 12 as low demand and muted trading activity persisted.
“Market is very weak,” a Germany-based service-center source said. “There is a lot of pressure on prices.”
Sources said that they do not expect any changes in the market until after the summer holidays, and that any attempt to increase prices is futile.
“Euopean mills can‘t increase prices, “ an Italy-based distributor source said. “There maybe some re-stocking in September, but until then, I don’t see any changes.”
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 12.
Tradable values were heard at Eur610-630/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe stable on the day at Eur625/mt EXW Italy.
Tradable values were heard at Eur620-630/mt EXW Italy, and offers were heard at Eur640/mt ex-works Italy.
Buying interest for carbon-accounted HRC was heard still muted as well. Offers for premium were heard at a minimum Eur100/mt for CO2 content around 1mt, and at Eur150-200/mt for CO2 content around 0 mt, both under scopes 1-2.
Platts assessed the carbon-accounted premium for HRC in Europe stable on the day at Eur125/mt July 12.
Interest in imported HRC also remained dull, due to longer lead times and the risks from safeguard duties.
“If the local mills are offering HRC at Eur620/mt ex-works, nobody would want to buy imports at Eur600/mt CIF,” another service-center source said.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur595/mt CIF Antwerp.
Offers were reported at Eur600-610/mt CIF Antwerp, including anti-dumping duties, for material originating from Turkey. Tradable values were heard at Eur590-600/mt CIF Antwerp, including anti-dumping duties, for material originating from Turkey.
Platts assessed imported HRC in South Europe stable on the day at Eur600/mt CIF Italy.
Offers were reported at Eur610-620/mt CIF Italy for material originating from Indonesia and at Eur610-620/mt CIF Italy, including anti-dumping duties, for material originating from Turkey.
Devbrat Saha
European Hot-Rolled Coil prices remain stable in slow market
European domestic prices for hot-rolled coil remained stable July 11 as market activity remained low due to summer holidays in most northwest European countries.
“There have been no changes compared to last week,” a service center source said. “Now summer break season started and no movement in the market.”
A trader source said the market was quiet with low demand, and expected there would not be any significant changes any time soon.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 11.
A deal for 100-120 mt was heard at Eur620-630/mt exw Ruhr, and tradable values were also heard at the same levels.
Offers were heard at Eur650-670/mt exw Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe stable on the day at Eur625/mt exw Italy.
Tradable values were heard at Eur620-625/mt exw Italy.
Buying interest for carbon-accounted HRC was heard still muted as well, with tradable values for premium in a range of Eur100-150/mt for variable CO2 emission levels and scopes. Platts assessed the carbon-accounted premium for HRC in Europe stable on the day at Eur125/mt July 11.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur595/mt CIF Antwerp.
Offers were reported at Eur595-600/mt CIF Antwerp for material originating from Japan.
Platts assessed imported HRC in South Europe stable at Eur600/mt CIF Italy, down Eur5 on the day.
Offers were reported at Eur600/mt CIF Italy for material originating from Indonesia and at Eur610/mt CIF Italy, including anti-dumping duties, for material originating from Turkey.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Devbrat Saha
Buyers expect European HRC offers to rise following proposed changes to safeguard measures
European buyers expected an increase in hot-rolled coil offers on June 4 following the changes proposed by the European Commission to safeguard measures.
The European Commission announced May 30 that it is considering a 15% cap for a single country over the Tariff Rate Quota volume for HRC initially available in each quarter. European authorities are scheduled to announce definitive measures by June 30.
The proposed changes are expected to limit volumes coming from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam, sources said.
“Demand for import is low due to the new safeguard clause,” an Italian service center said. “This for sure will have an impact on HRC imports from Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan.”
Buyers are expected to turn to an alternative import, either material from the Middle East or buying more coil from European mills.
In addition, market sources expect an increase in offers from European mills and non-EU suppliers that are not impacted by the safeguard changes.
“The amended measures make imports more complicated, it is unclear how the new measures would be implemented,” another service center said. “And European mills will use this situation to finally push prices up.”
Import offers from Turkey have been heard at Eur590-610/mt CIF Italy and from Asia, at Eur610/mt CIF Italy.
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur630/mt ex-works Ruhr on June 4, unchanged on the day.
Tradable values have been reported at Eur630-635/mt ex-works Ruhr with majority of data reported at Eur630/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Offers have been heard at Eur640-660/mt delivered Northwest Europe.
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in South Europe stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Italy on June 4.
Market sources estimated tradable values at Eur620-630/mt ex-works Italy and offers at Eur650/mt delivered Italy.
Maria Tanatar
EU HRC prices remain stable even as some mills offer discounted material
European hot-rolled coil domestic prices remained stable on May 31, even as steelmakers offered discounts on extras to keep base price stable and to book volumes for the summer.
“The mills are willing to give discounts on extras to keep base price stable,” a service center source said. “Longer stoppages for summer maintenances are expected.”
The European Commission announced May 30 that it is considering a 15% cap per single country over the Tariff Rate Quota volume initially available in each quarter. Sources said that this would create problems for the buyers, who would either keep booked materials at the port or find other buyers in Africa or Middle east and might also pick up material from European mills if needed.
The buyers “would have to keep some booked material in ports for the next quarter,” a mill source said. “Some say that the buyers would have to turn to other exporters from Africa or the Middle East, but I think that the quota would remain not fully used and buyers will book from European mills if needed.”
Platts assessed domestic prices for HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur630/mt ex-works Ruhr on May 31.
Tradable values have been reported at Eur620-640/mt EXW Ruhr and offers have been heard at Eur630-660/mt EXW Ruhr.
Platts assessed domestic prices for HRC in South Europe unchanged on the day at Eur625/mt EXW Italy on May 31.
Tradable values were reported at Eur620-630/mt EXW Italy and offers at Eur630/mt EXW Italy.
