European HRC prices have remained broadly stable this week, with mills in both northern Europe and Italy maintaining their official offers unchanged. However, in the north, a slight downward correction in tradable prices has been observed, as suppliers have showed increased flexibility to fill the remaining gaps in their order books. In Italy, trading activity has been largely subdued due to the early onset of the Easter holidays, resulting in quiet market conditions. Despite the minor softening in the north, overall sentiment remains bullish, with significantly higher price expectations already emerging for July deliveries. On the import side, the market is still very slow, with only occasional deals reported by traders for Turkish material and limited offers from Algeria, while Asian suppliers have been largely absent, with only sporadic indications from Indonesia.
Most local HRC prices from mills in northern Europe, mainly for June delivery, have been estimated at €710-730/mt ex-works, the same as last week. At the same time, the tradable price levels have settled at €690-710/mt ex-works, versus €700-720/mt ex-works, as suppliers have aimed to finalize remaining bookings through more competitive pricing.
In Italy, offers from mills have remained at €700-710/mt ex-works for May and June delivery. Meanwhile, the tradable price level is estimated at €690-700/mt ex-works for delivery in May and June, the same as last week. However, trading activity has been largely subdued due to the early onset of the Easter holidays.
The import market has continued to show very limited activity, as only a limited number of fresh offers have been reported by industry sources. Indicative offer prices for HRC have settled at €540-640/mt CFR, with the lower end of the range corresponding to ex-Indonesia HRC offers, while indicative offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been voiced at around €620/mt CFR, duty paid, but excluding CBAM costs. According to sources, last week a deal for ex-Turkey HRC was signed at €610-620/mt CFR.
Furthermore, offers for import HRC on DDP base have been estimated at €690-700/mt levels. According to market insiders, a deal for around 2,000 mt of ex-Turkey HRC has been signed at €700/mt DDP Spain through a trader this week.
Besides, offer for ex-Indonesia HRC through traders have been voiced at €700/mt DDP and slightly higher, while offers for other ex-Asia HRC have been estimated at €690/mt DDP, down by €10/mt week on week.