Uncertainty remains in UK HRC market as stockholders focus on depleting inventories

Stockholders in the UK HRC market were focused on depleting stocks July 15, though demand remained muted with scarce transactional activity reported.

Stockholders in the UK HRC market were focused on depleting stocks July 15, though demand remained muted with scarce transactional activity reported.

S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed hot-rolled coil in the UK down GBP40/mt on week, at GBP740/mt DDP West Midlands.

Distributors remained focused on offers from European mills with short lead times available at price levels of around GBP740/mt DDP West Midlands. Distribution sources considered GBP740/mt as a tradable value on the day.

Cheaper offers were reported from one mill at GBP690-710/mt DDP UK — but these offers could not be confirmed by market sources and were not regarded as representative of current market levels.

“No one’s buying at the moment, so a lot of the offers being circulated are fictitious to say the least,” said a stockholder source. “Demand is down, outsell prices are down and things won’t pick up until stocks are down too. Restocking will have to happen eventually, once all this negativity goes out the window — if stockholders run out of stock, they aren’t stockholders anymore, are they?”

Sentiments in the UK market were mixed, though more negative than in Europe, where HRC prices have stabilized at around Eur850-860/mt ex-works Ruhr with demand revival expected in the coming weeks.

“EU mills shut down in the summer months whereas the UK market tends to keep moving, we don’t really have the same evidence as on the Continent to say that the downtrend is over or demand has to come back in the near-term – the only thing we can be certain about is that substantial bookings should come back around September, everything else is up in the air,” said a trader source.

UK stockholders were heard as focused on depleting high stock levels, made more difficult by poor demand across the UK market. End-user demand to distributors was reportedly down 25%-30% with similar decreases in import interest meaning traders were struggling to fill vessels.

— Benjamin Steven, Maria Tanatar