While trade activity in the European hot rolled coil (HRC) market has slowed down a little during the past week as buyers and sellers have awaited further clarity on the EU's steel safeguard review, expected to conclude by March 31, local producer ArcelorMittal has as expected decided to go higher in the next round of sales, increasing its prices by around €20/mt from early February with other mills expected to follow suit. However, according to sources, the current price increase is not a result of higher consumption or an improved economic outlook, but is instead driven by restricted import availability and challenges faced by local mills.
More specifically, in the local EU market, ArcelorMittal has announced its new target for HRC €680/mt ex-works mainly for May-June deliveries, up €20/mt from the previous official levels announced in early February. Meanwhile, official offers from other European mills are estimated at around €640-650/mt ex-works in northern Europe, for June delivery materials, the same as last week. However, most buyers’ estimations for the workable prices have been heard at €630/mt ex-works, against €600-630/mt ex-works last week, with several transactions reported to have been signed at €630/mt ex-works, according to sources.
In the meantime, offers from Italian producers mainly for May delivery coils have been voiced at around €630-650/mt ex-works, against €610-630/mt ex-works last week. However, workable prices have been reported at €610-630/mt ex-works, up by €10-15/mt since last week.
“The ongoing uncertainty surrounding safeguard measures and imports continues to support the upward trend,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
In the import segment, most offers for ex-Asia HRC have been reported at €550-560/mt CFR southern Europe, mainly the same as last week. According to sources, although most customers refrain from import purchases due to uncertainty over the safeguard duty, several deals for small volumes have been reported for ex-Indonesia HRC at €550/mt CFR.
At the same time, while most ex-Turkey HRC offers have been estimated at €590-600/mt CFR, duty paid, market insiders have reported several deals signed for ex-Turkey HRC at €610/mt CFR through traders, including duty. Furthermore, according to a source, “Trial orders from Algeria have also been repeatedly booked at similar levels, at €590-600/mt CFR this week.”
Besides, offers for ex-Egypt HRC have been voiced at €600/mt CFR Spain this week, which translates to around €555/mt CFR, though no information about deals has been reported so far.
