Local Italian market sources interviewed by SteelOrbis reported having received last week the communication of a €20/mt ($21/mt) price increase by domestic producer Marcegaglia for all its flat products. "This decision comes amid the very low price levels seen in past weeks, and also from the recent strengthening of the dollar against the euro, and the fact that such prices are well below the price levels recorded in northern Europe."
Currently, domestic producers' base prices in Italy are very close to €300/mt ($318/mt) ex-works for hot rolled coils (HRC). An increasing trend is already in progress and currently there is rather strong demand coming from buyers who had postponed their purchases in the past one or two months, when it was not clear when prices would hit bottom.
According to market sources, all producers are ready to increase their prices, and starting from the first days of December coils sold by local service centers will increase by about €10-15/mt ($11-16/mt). However, more time will be necessary to bridge the price gap between northern and southern Europe, which is currently greater than €30/mt ($32/mt).
As for the import material coming from non-EU countries, after dropping to €260/mt ($276/mt) CFR about one month ago, hot rolled coil prices have recovered in the past 10 days and now stand at €280-290/mt ($297-307/mt) CFR on average. According to sources, it is very difficult to predict the behavior of suppliers in non-EU countries (including Russia and Iran) in the coming period. In the meantime, a slowdown of Chinese exports to Italy is being witnessed after several months during which such exports have had a negative impact on domestic prices.
€1 = $1.06