Although European flat steel re-rolling companies have been still facing slow demand for coated and cold rolled coils (CRC), the pressure has decreased to some extent lately with another recovery in domestic hot rolled coils (HRC) prices coupled with tighter supply of imports due to trade restrictions. As a result, EU CRC and hot dip galvanized (HDG) prices have increased both from mills and distributors over the past two weeks, with steel mills aiming for even more hikes for the second and third quarters of 2025.
More specifically, in the domestic CRC market, European mills, both in the north and in Italy, have been offering their materials at €700/mt ex-works for March and April delivery, against €680-690/mt ex-works two weeks ago. However, tradable prices have been voiced at around €680-700/mt ex-works both in Italy and in northern Europe, versus €660-670/mt ex-works two weeks ago.
In the import segment, most offers for CRC have shown an upward bias, standing at €650-670/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, up by €20/mt over the past two weeks. Offers for ex-Vietnam CRC have been voiced at €650/mt CFR, up by €10-15/mt over the past two weeks, while offers for ex-Taiwan and ex-South Korea CRC have settled at around €650-660/mt CFR, against €640/mt CFR two weeks ago. Offers for ex-Japan CRC have been estimated at around €650-670/mt CFR southern Europe. However, according to sources, lower priced offer for ex-India CRC from mills have been voiced at $650/mt CFR, which translates to around €620/mt CFR.
In the meantime, in the HDG segment, domestic offers from mills in Europe have settled at €720/mt ex-works against €690-710/mt ex-works two weeks ago. Meanwhile, domestic workable prices in the region have settled at around €700-710/mt ex-works, up by €20/mt over the past two weeks, with several transactions reported at €700/mt ex-works. At the same time, according to sources, EU mills have been aiming for more price hikes for April and May delivery, expecting to reach €750-770/mt ex-works in new sales.
“Many Italian suppliers are really convinced that there will be price increase in the future (mid 2025). In fact, prices as far as I can see from some index, they are still slowly increasing. However, the price increase will be supported by limited supply from imports due to trade restrictions rather than by higher demand,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Import HDG prices for ex-Asia Z120-140 materials have settled at around €730-750/mt CFR, against €720-730/mt CFR two weeks ago. Offers for ex-Vietnam Z140 HDG have been voiced at €730-750/mt CFR southern Europe. Besides, offers from India for Z140 HDG have settled at €730-740/mt CFR, according to sources.