Global steel giant ArcelorMittal has increased its coil offers across Europe for the second time this month, on the back of the persisting lack of material. Its new offers for HRC are at €1,100/mt ex-works, up €50/mt compared to last week. At the same time, ArcelorMittal's offers for CRC and HDG are both at €1,250/mt ex-works, also up €50/mt compared to the previous levels. According to sources, other domestic mills had already been offering HRC at €1,100/mt in the past few days. Meanwhile, the range of prices achievable in the EU market for HRC has reached €1,020-1,100/mt ex-works, up €35/mt on average compared to late last week. Currently, €1,020-1,050/mt is the price range in Italy, while prices can reach higher levels in northern Europe. Most mills are not offering material in the spot market as they have been focusing on contract sales. Delivery times are in the late third quarter at the earliest, while import offers are relatively high due to the EU safeguard, increased freight costs and the uptrend in the global steel market. This allows mills who are selling in the spot market to obtain "whatever price they name," one source told SteelOrbis.
According to market sources, European buyers are still struggling to secure the volumes they need. Supply tightness may ease in the coming months as production rates are slowly improving in Europe, while the automotive industry is slowing down its demand due to the lack of semiconductors. Much will also depend on EU's decision on its steel safeguard measures, which are going to expire on 30th June this year. A proposal on extending the EU's steel safeguard beyond June for other three years is likely to be unveiled in late May, SteelOrbis has learned. During a virtual event held yesterday, 11th May, European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the European Commission must analyse the evidence before making a decision and warned that proposing an extension would risk retaliation from countries such as Turkey and Russia. He added that the Commission should be ready to reveal its proposal at the end of May, leaving around a month for discussions with EU governments.