Tag: steel prices

European steel hot-rolled coil prices were broadly steady on Tuesday December 3, with the market awaiting the outcome of long-term contract negotiations between mills and end users, sources told Fastmarkets.

In Northern Europe, official offers for January-February delivery HRC were still being reported at €600-620 ($630-651) per tonne ex-works, but no transactions have been reported at such prices so far.

Market participants said local suppliers were accepting between €560 and €580 per tonne ex-works on firm bids.

One buyer estimated the workable price even lower, at €540-550 per tonne ex-works, but this was not widely supported by others.

One re-roller in the region was hoping to achieve €590 per tonne ex-works for first-quarter-delivery HRC, Fastmarkets understands, but sales were heard at no higher than €550-560 per tonne ex-works.

Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €561.25 ($589.75) per tonne on Tuesday, up by €1.25 per tonne from €560.00 per tonne on Monday.

The index was down by €2.92 per tonne week on week, but was up by €3.75 per tonne month on month.

Slow demand and oversupply were the main obstacles to achieving higher prices, sources said.

Downstream competition between steel service centers (SSCs) and distributors has been fierce, sources said.

“High inventories and cashflow needs result in SSCs fighting for every tonne,” a trader source in Germany said.

Other market participants said that some integrated mills were selling material at lower rates through their SSCs.

“The mills are hungry for volumes, but they don’t want to lower their official offer prices due to pending negotiations with automotive [original equipment manufacturers],” a second buyer said.

In the weeks ahead, the outcome of long-term contract negotiations between automotive OEMs and steelmakers should be clearer, which will then set the tone for spot sales, sources told Fastmarkets.

“Not only the price [in long-term contracts] but also the volumes the automotive sector [takes will be] important to understanding how the spot market will evolve,” a distributor in the region said.

Buyers were hoping to achieve a discount of around €100 per tonne for first-half and full-year 2025 contracts, while mills were hoping for a more minor reduction of some €50 per tonne, or even a price rollover in some cases, sources said.

“Negotiations [with the automotive industry] are continuing, and are expected to close in about 15 days,” a mill source told Fastmarkets on December 3.

In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy at €560.00 per tonne on Tuesday, unchanged day on day.

The Italian index was up by €1.50 per tonne week on week and by €2.50 per tonne month on month.

The market in Italy was also mostly quiet, however, with prices broadly flat amid subdued trading.

One integrated mill in Italy was hoping to achieve €600 per tonne delivered (€590 per tonne ex-works) for first-quarter-delivery HRC, with bids for such material coming in at €570-580 per tonne delivered (€560-570 per tonne ex-works).

“[The mill] is trying to get €600 [per tonne delivered], but there has been a weak response so far,” a buyer in Italy said.

“Nothing has been closed at €600 [per tonne delivered],” a second buyer said.

Another supplier was heard accepting around €550 per tonne ex-works for material with lead times of about 5-6 weeks.

The import market in Italy, meanwhile, has been mostly quiet recently due to trade defense measures, as well as uncompetitive prices, sources said.

Offers of HRC for February shipment from Taiwan and South Korea to Italy were heard at €580 per tonne CFR, down from €600 per tonne CFR in late November, but failed to spark interest among European buyers.

“Shipment in February means arrival in April, which makes no sense,” a third buyer source said, “[but] the domestic sector can still deliver in January.”

Sources reported the sale of some Turkish HRC to Italy at €560 per tonne CFR, but no further details were available – although one source said the deal had been done through a trader.

Japanese suppliers were not offering HRC to Europe due to a looming anti-dumping probe, but limited tonnages of HRC from Indonesia were on offer to Italy at €550-555 per tonne CFR.

Published by: Julia Bolotova

Darina Kahramanova in Sofia contributed to this report.