According to market sources, low demand - especially from the automotive sector, but also from service centers - has continued to drag down hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the Italian domestic market.
Transaction prices in the local Italian HRC market are now at €465-475/mt ($525-537/mt) ex-works on average, against last week's levels of €470-480/mt ex-works.
Meanwhile, import offers are at €480-490/mt ($542-554/mt) CFR Italy, which is too high to spur any interest among local buyers. HRC prices in northern Europe are at around €500-510/mt ($565-576/mt) ex-works, unchanged compared to last week, but demand is low across Europe and sources have reported short lead times.
€1 = $1.13