After a one-month hiatus, leading steelmaker ArcelorMittal has increased its coil offers across Europe, market sources have told SteelOrbis. Its new offers for HRC are at €1,200/mt ex-works, up €30/mt compared to May 20. At the same time, ArcelorMittal's offers for CRC and HDG are both at €1,350/mt ex-works, also up €30/mt compared to the previous levels.
According to sources, HRC transaction prices have already increased on average in the EU HRC market compared to yesterday's levels, although the range now looks quite wide. Prices can vary from €1,120/mt to €1,210/mt ex-works depending on the supplier's position, on volumes and lead times. However, most transactions are happening in the €1,130-1,160/mt range in Italy and in the €1,150-1,200/mt range in northern Europe. Supply remains tight, although activities have slowed down as service centers are avoiding building up high stocks, while demand from the automotive sector has decreased significantly due to the lack of semiconductors globally.