The hot rolled coil (HRC) market remains rather positive in the EU, providing some support for import activity. There are a number of offers from Asian, Turkish and Middle Eastern suppliers.
According to sources, earlier in January there was a deal closed to Italy from Saudi Arabia at $750/mt FOB for 10,000-15,000 mt, which is estimated at around $780/mt on CFR basis. An Egyptian mill has recently traded a medium-sized lot at $850/mt CFR, which is thought by sources to be an overpriced level.
Russia’s Severstal has sold an additional 20,000 mt of March production HRC at $780-790/mt FOB, stable over the past week. The freight is estimated at around $20/mt within the Baltic region.
The official offers from Turkey are at $800/mt FOB. The level is considered workable compared to Asian offers which translate to $840-850/mt CFR on US dollar basis. However, no fresh deals have been heard, partly as Turkey is in the market to sell for April-early May shipments, while there are still offers for March-April shipments from alternative sellers.
Asian suppliers are also in the market. Sources report the offers from Thailand at €710/mt CFR, while the same levels are available from India. A small lot of Japanese HRC has been on the table at €695/mt CFR.
€1 = $1.21
