Europe’s import HRC market has continued to face challenges amid tightening trade measures and regulatory pressure, including the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and ongoing safeguard measures and the new tariff-rate quota expected to be implemented within a few months. Despite this, some buying activity has been observed this week, suggesting that certain buyers are re-engaging in the market under adjusted pricing structures.
More specifically, indicative offer prices for HRC have remained at €600-690/mt CFR, with the lower end of the range corresponding to indicative offers from India. At the same time, a growing number of offers have been reported via traders on DDP basis, including CBAM-related costs, with several deals reported to have been concluded this week. In particular, a few transactions totalling at least 30,000 mt of ex-Algeria HRC were signed at €725/mt DDP southern Europe. “Two lots have been sold in Italy, while around 10,000 mt have been sold in Spain,” a local trader told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, according to market sources, while offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been estimated at around €620/mt CFR duty paid, excluding CBAM, Turkish origin material has also been offered by Chinese traders at €690-700/mt DDP, with approximately 10,000 mt reported to have been booked in Spain at these levels, although this information has not been officially confirmed at the time of publication.
In addition, offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have been heard at around €730/mt DDP southern Europe. Earlier in the week, ex-South Korea HRC was offered at €680/mt DDP. However, by the end of the week, this level is widely considered to be “too low” by European traders. At the same time, South Korean cold rolled coil (CRC) has been actively offered by Asian traders at around €870/mt DDP, according to sources.
Notably, while regulatory constraints continue to weigh on import flows and complicate pricing transparency, the emergence of fresh offers and reported deals indicates that the market is gradually adapting to the new trading environment. Market participants remain cautious, however, with buying interest largely opportunistic and dependent on competitive DDP levels that fully include duties and CBAM-related costs.
