Compared with about a month ago, the Italian flat steel market has seen a slight slowdown in activity. Nevertheless, in the same period Italian producers have managed to keep their prices stable, or even to increase them by at least €5/mt ($5.45/mt).
Currently, domestic producers' base prices in Italy are at €400-405/mt ($436-441/mt) for hot rolled coil (HRC), at around €460-470/mt ($501-512/mt) for cold rolled coil (CRC) and at €450-460/mt ($491-501/mt) for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil, all ex-works.
SteelOrbis sources said that in the meantime the situation has remained virtually unchanged in the global market, with iron ore prices continuing to weaken slowly. However, flat steel import offers for Italy are not much lower compared to domestic prices, which is why Italian buyers still do not seem interested in ordering large quantities of material from abroad. Given the maintenance works at domestic producer Ilva's blast furnace No. 5, it seems certain that in the coming period import activities will increase in Italy. However, the extent of this increase will depend on the levels of import offers, particularly those from China. According to market sources, Chinese exporters may be cautious about offering aggressive prices due to their fear of antidumping measures in target markets.
In the Italian domestic market, flat steel prices have remained depressed compared to production costs. Market players hope that the recent firming of prices will be sustained and will pave the way for further small price increases in the coming period. Meanwhile, supply levels remain low at all levels of the supply chain due to tight liquidity.
€1 = $1.09