European flats steel prices, including CRC and HDG, have seen an upward push this week, led by ArcelorMittal, which raised its domestic offers across the EU this week. As a result, European CRC and HDG prices have edged slightly higher over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, import trade has all but stalled, as most buyers prefer to avoid exposure to new bookings due to the CBAM regulations.
Specifically, in the local EU market, this week ArcelorMittal announced its new price target for HRC at €700/mt delivered, and at €820-830/mt delivered for CRC and HDG, mainly for April deliveries, up €30/mt month on month. However, according to a source, even though other European mills are likely to attempt similar moves, most market sources argue that the latest offers disregard the prevailing market conditions.
In the domestic CRC market, most mills in Italy and northern Europe have been targeting €770-780/mt ex-works, versus €750/mt ex-works two weeks ago. However, despite such bullish sentiments, most mills’ offers are still voiced at lower levels of around €740-760/mt ex-works in northern Europe and at around €750-760/mt ex-works in Italy. Besides, the tradable prices have been estimated at €740-760/mt ex-works both in Italy and in northern Europe, versus €720-730/mt ex-works two weeks ago.
“The increase is driven by tighter supply as CRC availability has been heavily dependent on imports, but more than half of the import volumes are now subject to antidumping (AD) investigations, affecting material from India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam,” a market insider said.
In the import segment, offers for CRC have settled at €620-660/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, the same as two weeks ago. Very few offers have been heard on CFR basis this week, as customers are unwilling to take the risk of purchasing without clarity on CBAM costs. Offers for ex-Thailand CRC are voiced at €655-660/mt CFR, excluding CBAM costs. Meanwhile, offers on DDP basis, including CBAM, have been voiced at €750-760/mt DDP, versus €700-730/mt DDP two weeks ago. In particular, offers for ex-South Korea have been voiced at €750/mt DDP Italy and €750-760/mt DDP Spain this week, while offers from other Asia suppliers have been in line with these levels.
In the HDG segment, domestic tradable prices both in Italy and in the north of Europe have settled at €760/mt ex-works, versus €730-735/mt ex-works two weeks ago, while mills have been targeting HDG offers for February-March delivery as high as €780-800/mt ex-works, according to sources.
In the import segment, trade has remained limited, with offers for ex-Asia HDG Z100-120 voiced at €720-740/mt CFR, depending on the supplier. Though, according to sources, some offers have been estimated at €680-700/mt CFR level.
