In Poland, the flats market remains sluggish under the influence of the decrease in demand. Flats buyers in the local Polish market are seen to have slowed down their buying activity significantly. Against the competitive levels of import offers, especially given from Ukraine, ArcelorMittal Poland has also made adjustments in its local market prices. ArcelorMittal's HRC offers were standing at €600/mt in previous weeks and, despite not having received orders at this price level, the producer increased its offers to €640/mt last week. As of this week, ArcelorMittal has decreased its HRC offers to the Polish domestic market by €30/mt to €610/mt. ArcelorMittal's CRC and HDG offers are reported to be standing at levels of €645/mt and €750/mt respectively.
On the import side, Ukrainian mill Ilyich's HRC offers to the Polish market are reported to have softened by €20/mt from last week's level of €500/mt DAF to €480/mt DAF. Another Ukrainian mill Zaporizhstal's HRC offers, which were at $620/mt DAF last week, are heard to be still at the same levels, while its CRC offers to the Polish market are reported to be standing at $695/mt DAF.
Generally, it would be difficult to say that the softening of prices has had a positive influence on flats buyers. The buying activity of end-users, who have the potential to conclude purchases, has slowed down considerably, since the end-users believe that prices will decrease further. SteelOrbis has heard from the local market players that domestic mills, traders who sell ready stock material and market players who give import offers may all decrease their prices after negotiations. In addition, according to information received from traders, inventory levels are declining. With the summer season approaching, the weakening of demand and the decreases in inventory levels may be replaced by increased activity in the coming months. Many market players believe that the flats markets will recover towards the end of the summer. With a positive improvement on the demand side, end-users and stockists, whose inventory levels are currently low, will likely step up their buying activities.