European mills, which have been testing the market with higher prices during the past weeks given their low availability amid fully booked orders for April and rather good demand, have once again hiked their offers this week for May and June deliveries expecting more restocking this month. At the same time, the interest of European buyers in import offers, in southern Europe in particular, has increased as they appear to be sufficiently competitive currently.
This week, official HRC prices from mills have increased to €800-830/mt ex-works, versus €800-820/mt ex-works last week. More specifically, producers from Italy have been offering their materials for May deliveries at mainly €800-820/mt ex-works, while some offers for June have already been heard at €830/mt ex-works and above levels. “Although some mills are aiming for rises up to €830/mt ex-works, the current workable level is estimated at €795-800/mt ex-works,” a market insider said. Meanwhile, steel mills in northern Europe have been offering their May delivery HRC at around €800-820/mt ex-works, though offers for June have already been reported at €820-850/mt ex-works, according to sources.
At the same time, this week European market is actively discussing the new anticipated price hike of ArcelorMittal to €850/mt ex-works. Although, according to the producer’s representatives, currently ArcelorMittal’s tradable offers have remained at €820/mt, most market insiders are convinced there will be a further price increase in the short run.
Meanwhile, this week market insiders have reported numerous deals for imported HRC given their attractiveness as compared to local quotes. Import offers have been reported at €740-765/mt CFR, versus €720-760/mt CFR last week. According to sources, over the past two weeks, a Vietnamese producer has managed to sell around 100,000 mt of HRC to southern Europe, mainly Italy, at $720/mt FOB, which, according to market insiders, translates to around $765-785/mt CFR. “Asia is not that good in terms of both prices, which are at $700/mt CFR and below, and demand, so they [regional ASEAN mills] are selling stable volume to the export market, Europe specifically,” an Asian source said. However, this week, offers for ex-Vietnam materials have increased to a minimum of €750/mt CFR Italy, according to sources. Besides, this week, another Vietnamese producer is reported to have sold some volumes to Spain at €765/mt CFR. Moreover a few batches for ex-Japan HRC have been reportedly sold to Spain at €760-765/mt CFR this week. Furthermore, according to sources, South Korean producer POSCO has been also active in negotiations this week, selling its materials at around €760/mt CFR Italy, while ex-South Korea offers to Spain have been voiced at €770/mt CFR and above. One of the suppliers’ from Taiwan has been active as well, selling around 30,000 mt at €745/mt CFR, though by the end of the week ex-Taiwan offers have settled at around €760-770/mt CFR, according to market insiders.
Suppliers from India, however, have been rather inactive this week, with most offers voiced at $820-830/mt CFR both southern and northern Europe, or around €765-775/mt CFR, up by €5-10/mt week on week.
Apart from Asian suppliers, deals for around 30,000 mt in total of ex-Egypt HRC have been reported at $790-800/mt CFR or €740-750/mt CFR southern Europe this week. Furthermore, according to sources, a supplier from Saudi Arabia has sold some volumes of HRC to Spain at around €760/mt CFR this week.