European prices for cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) steel have continued to edge down over the past week, reflecting the persistent weakness in market activity and growing pressure from competitively priced imports. Domestic producers have struggled to secure new orders amid sluggish demand, particularly from the automotive and construction sectors, while buyers remain cautious, expecting further declines. In parallel, import offers have fallen further, widening the gap between domestic and foreign pricing and fuelling expectations of continued price erosion. As a result, market participants have adopted a wait-and-see approach, further limiting transactions and adding to the bearish sentiment.
More specifically, in the domestic CRC market, mills in Italy have been offering their materials at €720/mt ex-works for July delivery, down by €10/mt week on week and compared to €740-750/mt ex-works two weeks ago. In the north, most offers from mills have been voiced at €720-730/mt ex-works for July delivery, down by €20/mt over the past two weeks. However, tradable prices have been voiced in Italy at around €700/mt ex-works, down by €10/mt week on week, and at €710-720/mt ex-works in northern Europe.
In the import segment, most offers for CRC have moved down over the past two weeks, standing at €610-640/mt CFR compared to €635-685/mt CFR two weeks ago, depending on the supplier. Offers from the main Turkish suppliers have been voiced at $690/mt CFR, which translates to €610/mt CFR southern Europe. However, according to sources, higher prices for ex-Turkey CRC are still voiced in the market at around €630-635/mt CFR. Offers for ex-India CRC have been voiced at €640/mt CFR, mainly the same as two weeks ago. At the same time, according to sources, lower offer prices for ex-Vietnam CRC have also been reported in the EU market at $670/mt CFR or €590/mt CFR.
In the meantime, in the HDG segment, domestic offers both from mills in Italy and northern Europe have settled at €730-740/mt ex-works, against €750-780/mt ex-works two weeks ago. However, domestic workable prices in the region have settled at around €720-730/mt ex-works, down by €20/mt over the past two weeks.
In the import segment, trade has remained limited, with offers for ex-Asia HDG Z100-120 voiced at €670-720/mt CFR, depending on the supplier, against €730-750/mt CFR two weeks ago.
$1 = €0.88