Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €620.00 ($677.73) per tonne on Wednesday, stable day on day.
The index was down by €0.71 per tonne week on week and by €11.00 per tonne month on month.
The summer holiday season was in full swing across Europe, and trading in the HRC market was said to be “non-existent”.
“The market is very quiet, if not fully asleep,” a steel service center source in the Benelux area said.
Firm offers were also rare because mills were considering how to react to weak demand from the market, the pessimistic outlook for the automotive industry and the uncertain outlook for construction, sources said.
“On the one hand, [a] price increase is absolutely necessary, we operate with squeezed margins or no margins, but at the same time, the market fundamentals are not supportive of a price rise,” a mill source said.
Buyer sources estimated the tradeable values for HRC in Northern Europe at €600-620 per tonne ex-works.
Some sources suggested that €590 per tonne ex-works was achievable for larger volumes, but this could not be confirmed with suppliers.
“[The price of] €600 [per tonne ex-works] seems to be a red line for the mills,” a buyer in Germany said.
Some suppliers were aiming for €660-670 per tonne ex-works for October-delivery coil, but it remained to be seen whether the market would be ready to accept high prices after the summer break, sources said.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €620.00 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday.
The index was down by €0.63 per tonne week on week and by €4.10 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was completely quiet, with both buyers and sellers absent from trading.
Buyer sources estimated the workable market level at €600-620 per tonne ex-works.
Italian mills were expected to come back with new offers in end-August.
The latest offers for September-delivery coil were heard at €640-650 per tonne delivered (€630-640 per tonne ex-works) in end-July.
But industry sources pointed out that local suppliers were likely to attempt a price rise after the holidays.
The market for overseas coil was also quiet amid news of looming anti-dumping investigations into certain origins, Fastmarkets reported.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
