Prices in the local Italian flat steel market have continued to increase over the past week, with hikes of €10-40/mt ($11-44/mt). Currently, Italian producers’ prices stand at €420-450/mt ($466-500/mt) for HRC, at €530-550/mt ($588-611/mt) for CRC and at €510-530/mt ($566-588/mt) for HDG, all ex works and for November shipments. Meanwhile, demand for flat steel in Italy is at decent levels, as it is in whole Europe, resulting from the good performance of automotive industry.
The support for the uptrend of Italian domestic flat steel prices comes from the good level of order books also for other European mills and from the absence of import offers from foreign countries. Only Indian offers have been heard at €20/mt ($22/mt) lower than European prices, but European customers consider from four to five months of delivery times of Indian materials’ to be too long.
Market sources state that Italian mills may ask for another price increase before the year ends and this may push distributors to increase their stocks.
€1 = $1.11