During the past week, demand in the local Italian hot rolled coil (HRC) market has improved, while production levels have consequently increased. Even though the uptrend of iron ore prices has provided support for prices in the local Italian HRC market, most market players have adopted a wait-and-see stance since it is still not clear what size of a price increase buyers will be able to accept. However, there are no longer signs of HRC prices available below €300/mt ($330/mt) ex-works, while hot dip galvanized (HDG) and cold rolled coil (CRC) prices are not seen below €380/mt ($418/mt) ex-works. Meanwhile, foreign suppliers’ HRC offers to the Italian market have started to settle at above €300/mt ($330/mt) FOB. In the coming days, official price increases - which are foreseen to be about €30/mt ($33/mt) - are expected to be announced, leading to a clarification of the market situation
€1 = $1.10