Luxembourg-based global steel giant ArcelorMittal has announced to its European customers that it is implementing an increase of €30/mt on flat product prices. Its goal is to bring hot rolled coil (HRC) base prices close to €490/mt ex-works in Italy for October deliveries, from the levels of €440-460/mt that SteelOrbis reported at the end of July, and to bring its HRC base prices to at least €500/mt in northern Europe, SteelOrbis understands.
This is the third attempt made by ArcelorMittal this year to increase its prices. In the past few months, ArcelorMittal has continued to complain of a weakening in demand - mainly due to the slowdown in the automotive sector - the increase in imports, high energy costs and the increase in CO2 costs, all factors that have forced the producer to temporarily reduce steel output in Europe since May.
ArcelorMittal and other European producers seem to be hoping for an improvement in the situation during the fourth quarter. A recovery in automotive demand, combined with the changes proposed by the European Commission to the safeguard on imports, could in fact create better conditions for steel producers in the region. For the moment, domestic buyers are mostly skeptical as they do not seem willing to accept increases without having first seen an effective improvement in end-user demand.