Market sources state that after the summer holiday period local Italian flat steel producers are ready to increase their domestic prices by €10-20/mt ($12-23/mt) and in certain cases by up to €40/mt ($46/mt). The space for these price increases has been created by reduced import volumes and antidumping procedures.
In the meantime, domestic demand is quite weak and service centers in Italy are in wait-and-see mode, watching for the price increases and awaiting the market’s response.
At the end of July, Italian producers’ domestic hot rolled coil (HRC) prices were at €380-385/mt ($430-435/mt), their cold rolled coil (CRC) prices were at €490-500/mt ($554-565/mt) and their hot dip galvanized (HDG) prices were in the range of €450-480/mt ($509-543/mt) ex-works, while the most recent deals seen at the beginning of September were transacted at these price levels.
€1 = $1.13