European hot rolled coil (HRC) trading sentiments have showed a gradual improvement over the past week, especially in northern Europe, with market participants reporting a modest rebound in activity following a quieter start to the year. Meanwhile, local mills have maintained a firm stance in negotiations and have continued to test higher offer ideas for upcoming delivery periods, while buyers have remained selective and focused on near-term demand visibility. At the same time, the gap between producers’ expectations and workable trading levels has persisted, reflecting cautious downstream consumption. As for the import segment, market participants noted that negotiations have been increasingly influenced by delivery lead times, as well as by CBAM-related and safeguard duty considerations, which have continued to shape buying strategies across the region.
Most local HRC prices from mills in northern Europe, mainly for May delivery, are still estimated at €685-700/mt ex-works, the same as last week. According to sources, trade activity has improved to some extent this week, with service centres concluding several large-tonnage purchases. The tradable price level has settled at €650-660/mt ex-works.
In Italy, offers from mills are estimated at €680/mt ex-works, mainly for April delivery, compared to €660-680/mt ex-works last week, though mills have been targeting higher offers for May delivery at around €700/mt ex-works, according to sources. Meanwhile, the tradable price level is estimated at €650-670/mt ex-works, versus €640-650/mt ex-works last week.
In the import segment, indicative offer prices for HRC have settled at €525-565/mt CFR, the same as last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to ex-India HRC offers at $620-625/mt CFR, which translates to €525-530/mt CFR southern Europe.
Furthermore, according to sources, following offers for ex-Saudi Arabia HRC at around €540-550/mt CFR southern Europe, excluding CBAM costs, a deal for around 40,000 mt is reported to have been signed at €540/mt CFR Spain, though this information has not been officially confirmed by the time of publication.
Offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been voiced at around €560/mt CFR, duty paid, but excluding CBAM costs.
HRC import offers including CBAM costs on DDP basis have been voiced at €630-670/mt levels, depending on the supplier, up by €10-20/mt week on week. An offer for ex-Indonesia HRC has been reported at €670/mt DDP Spain this week. Besides, according to sources, offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been voiced through traders at about €630-650/mt DDP Spain, the same as last week.
Besides, indicative offers for ex-Asia origin HRC have this week been estimated €640-660/mt DDP southern Europe, through traders.
$1 = €0.85
