European cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) prices have edged higher this week, supported by mills’ firmer domestic offers and limited import availability. Market sentiment has remained cautious, however, since buyers have continued to resist higher prices amid weak end-user demand and persistent uncertainty surrounding CBAM costs, antidumping risks and geopolitical tensions affecting trade flows.
More specifically, in the domestic CRC market, most mills in Italy and northern Europe have been targeting €820-830/mt ex-works, compared to €810-830/mt ex-works two weeks ago. However, tradable prices have been estimated at around €820/mt ex-works.
In the import segment, offers for CRC have remained rare this week, with indicative prices settling at €720-750/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, up by €20/mt on the lower end of the range since late March. Very few offers have been heard on CFR basis this week, due to AD duty and considering that customers are unwilling to take the risk of purchasing without clarity on CBAM costs. In particular, offers for ex-Indonesia CRC have been voiced at €730/mt CFR.
Furthermore, offers for import CRC on DDP basis, including CBAM costs, have been estimated at €780-805/mt DDP, with deal prices for ex-South Korea CRC reported at €805/mt DDP this week, while offers for ex-Malaysia HDG have settled at €780/mt DDP southern Europe.
According to market sources, fresh import offers of CRC and HDG are extremely scarce amid CBAM-related uncertainty, the Middle East situation, and the ongoing antidumping investigation against CRC imports from India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam.
In the HDG segment, mills in Italy and in the north of Europe have been targeting €825-835/mt ex-works and €820-830/mt ex-works, respectively, compared to €800-810/mt ex-works two week ago, while domestic tradable prices have settled at €820/mt ex-works in both regions.
Import offers for ex-Vietnam for Z275 grade HDG have been voiced at €750/mt CFR, the same as two weeks ago, while offers for ex-Taiwan HDG though traders have been reported at €800-805/mt DDP.