Although this week prices for cold rolled coils (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) from European mills have remained relatively stable, market insiders have reported lower tradable price levels as local mills have been failing to attract buyers given extremely weak trade during the traditional slow summer season in the region. At the same time, most import CRC and HDG offers have remained unchanged over the past week, with some slightly higher offers even heard in the market.
Specifically, in the domestic CRC market in the EU, most producers are offering at €760-790/mt ex-works, the same as last week, though several offers at €750/mt ex-works have been reported in Italy, while €760/mt ex-works has been viewed as “achievable” in northern Europe. “Trade is extremely slow now, the same as in the HRC segment. Producers are forced to drop their prices to attract buyers,” a market insider said.
Import prices for CRC in Europe have been voiced at €680-700/mt CFR, versus €675-700/mt CFR last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to ex-India CRC offers in southern Europe, while the higher end corresponds to ex-Asia CRC offers in the north. More specifically, according to sources, offers for ex-South Korea CRC have been voiced at €685-690/mt CFR, while offers from Vietnam and Japan have been heard at €690/mt CFR. Suppliers from Turkey have been offering CRC at around €710/mt CFR Spain, but some lower offers have also been heard at €690/mt CFR, according to sources.
Meanwhile, local prices for HDG have been estimated at €770-790/mt ex-works Italy, down by €10/mt on the higher end of the range week on week, and at €790-800/mt ex-works in northern Europe, the same as last week. At the same time, most import offers for HRC, from Vietnam, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey in particular, have been voiced at around €790-805/mt CFR southern Europe, versus €780-815/mt CFR last week. Besides, HDG import prices in northern Europe have been reported at €800-805/mt CFR, the same as last week.