While the Italian flat steel market has now gone on holiday, over the last two weeks quotations dropped significantly, by €60-70/mt. Inventories have decreased again, and now it seems very hard for inventories to reach lower levels than the current ones. This may also indicate that restocking activities are likely to be seen in September, which could help to prevent a further fall in spot prices. In general, the flat steel market in Italy is still marked by uncertainty, starting with end-user demand which remains very sluggish.
Currently, local prices for hot rolled coils (HRC) stand at €500/mt ex-works, while some producers say they have concluded transactions at below this level in order to beat competition from imports and in order to fill their order books for deliveries in September. Local prices for cold rolled coils (CRC) and hot dipped galvanized (HDG) are respectively at €560-580/mt and €590/mt.
On the import side, offers of Ukrainian HRC stand at €460/mt CFR , while HRC from Libya is at the level of €480/mt CFR. Some bookings for HRC and CRC of Turkish and Brazilian origin have been heard, while China and India are offering 0.6 mm HDG at €600-620/mt CFR. Pre-painted galvanized steel from India stands at €780/mt CFR.