The lack of locally produced hot rolled coil (HRC) allocation, decent demand and the necessity to restock have been pushing European buyers to deal for import material. Foreign supplies that have had volumes to offer have benefitted the most since the competition in terms of sales to the EU has not been tight. In addition, the increasing strength of the euro has been helpful to sellers to Europe.
This week, Russia’s Severstal has sold 40,000 mt of HRC for January production at €555-560/mt FOB and then 20,000 mt of HRC for February rolling at €565/mt FOB. The deals were closed to the north of the EU and the freight is estimated at €20-25/mt, SteelOrbis has learned.
One supplier from India, according to sources, has sold 15,000 mt of HRC to a trader at $675/mt CFR (February shipment), while later on the cargo was sold to Antwerp at €580/mt CFR. Some players state that there are offers from Japan at €595-600/mt CFR, with no deals reported just yet. No offers from South Korea or Taiwan have been heard in the European market.
Ex-Egypt HRC, which is not subject to any import restriction in the EU, is said to have been sold to Spain at $700/mt FOB, with the tonnage in question around 10,000 mt.
Some deals from Turkey have been also reported last week at $680-685/mt FOB to southern Europe. The latest deal level for a small tonnage reported in the market has been $690-695/mt FOB, but the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
€1 = $1.21