Leading global steelmaker ArcelorMittal has raised its flat steel prices across Europe for the fourth time in April. Its new offers for hot rolled coils (HRC) are at €1,020/mt ex-works, up €20/mt compared to last week. At the same time, ArcelorMittal's offers for cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) are both at €1,200/mt ex-works, up €50/mt compared to the previous levels.
In the past two days, the range of prices achievable in the EU market for HRC has reached €970-1,000/mt ex-works, increasing by €30/mt compared to late last week and up by more than €100/mt compared to early April.
Domestic HRC prices in Europe have been trending up since last summer due to the shortage of material. The problem began after most European countries lifted lockdown measures in May 2020, with demand recovering rapidly, while previously-idled plants were not able to increase their production as quickly. At the same time, import activities were unable to compensate for the lack of domestic supply as they were still being restricted by the EU safeguard measures (in place since July 2018), as well as by antidumping duties. Increased raw material prices have also been contributing to higher steel prices. According to market sources, in the EU flat steel market supply will continue to struggle to keep up with demand in the coming period. The earliest delivery times that European mills are able to offer are for late third quarter production.