In the European hot rolled coil (HRC) market, transaction volumes are still limited while local prices have decreased in the past week. According to sources, demand is still weak, especially considering that a few auto makers are still closed due to the coronavirus emergency, while most of them have resumed their activities only partially. In Italy, more and more steel companies have resumed operations in the past few weeks, while all of them will officially be able to reopen starting from May 4, as per the latest decree by the Italian prime minister.
Meanwhile, local HRC prices in Italy have decreased in the past week, from €435/mt to €415-425/mt ex-works, depending on the producer. In northern Europe, prices have gone from €450-460/mt to levels of €440-445/mt, all ex-works. At the same time, market sources have reported aggressive import offers from South Korea and India at €375-380/mt CFR, levels that basically exclude Turkish suppliers from the EU market at the moment. While these offers have not led to any significant booking so far according to sources, they may have been used as leverage by buyers during talks with domestic producers. Currently, all market players are looking at a relaxation of the restrictive measures that have been imposed by European governments to tackle the coronavirus, as this would allow for an increase in end-user consumption. However, no one expects production rates in downstream industries to go back to pre-coronavirus levels in the short term.