Domestic HRC prices are still trending down in the EU market, as transaction activities have remained scarce while most European producers have kept refraining from giving new offers, especially in northern Europe, expecting import prices to stabilize at some level. However, the expected stabilization of import HRC prices has once again failed to materialize this week, with more offers heard at lower levels.
More specifically, HRC offers from European mills have been heard at €680-750/mt ex-works, versus €700-770/mt ex-works last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to offers from Italian mills at €680-700/mt ex-works, down by around €40/mt week on week, while the tradable level has been assessed at as low as €650/mt ex-works in Italy. “Local HRC prices in Italy have dropped to €680/mt ex-works, while bids have been heard at €650/mt ex-works. Arvedi, for instance, still offers at €690-700/mt ex-works, while ArcelorMittal offers at around €750/mt, but logically nobody’s buying at this level,” the representative of one mill told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, while occasional offers have been heard from northern European mills at €760/mt ex-works for September deliveries, the tradable price level has been estimated at €720-750/mt ex-works, down by €10-30/mt over the past week. “Italy’s prices have softened and northern Europe (Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia) is expected to follow, though so far we have heard nothing below €700 ex-works base,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
As for the import segment, although last week market insiders were expecting import HRC to bottom out, more price declines have been heard again this week. In particular, offers to southern Europe have settled at €580-625/mt CFR, down by €10-15/mt week on week, depending on the origin and destination. More specifically, offers from Vietnam and Indonesia have been reported at the lowest level among all suppliers at €580/mt CFR Italy, down by €10-20/mt week on week, though, according to some buyers in Spain, they have still been hearing ex-Vietnam offers at above €600/mt CFR. Meanwhile, suppliers from Japan have decreased their prices for HRC to $630-640/mt CFR Italy, which translates to €588-607/mt CFR, versus €610-640/mt CFR last week.
Offers for ex-India HRC have been voiced at €600-625/mt CFR, the same as last week, though, according to sources, by the end of the week only offers at $670/mt CFR, or €625/mt CFR have remained in the market, while producers who offered at €600/mt CFR have decided to halt their offers. Besides, offers from Egypt have been heard at $640/mt CFR or around €600/mt CFR, down by €25/mt over the past week, while offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been reported at €650/mt CFR duty paid.
Furthermore, import offers in northern Europe have been heard at €600-610/mt CFR for ex-Asia origin, as compared to €620-640/mt CFR voiced last week.
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