The European market is slowly resuming activities after the Christmas break. This also applies to the flat steel market where the price situation has not yet changed much, although market sources report that local mills are being much firmer with their offers after closing 2019 with losses compared to the previous year.
In the Italian market, hot rolled coil (HRC) transaction prices have not changed so far and are still mostly between €420/mt and €430/mt ex-works for February shipments, although the €430/mt level seems to have gained more traction. As previously reported, there is an expectation of further price increases on the back of local production cuts, firm raw material costs and high import offers. End-user demand has not given signals of real improvements yet, although some sources hope for firmer demand from the European automotive sector. Meanwhile, an Italian court has decided that blast furnace No. 2 at the Taranto-based Ilva plant, now operated by ArcelorMittal, can continue its production operations. This development is expected to ease supply concerns somewhat and at the same time prevent further price increases from the import side. HRC offers from Turkey are at around $500-515/mt FOB, which is still quite high for Italian buyers whose price idea does not exceed the $500/mt CFR level.
As for the northern European market, HRC prices are now mostly around €440/mt ex-works, against the €430-440/mt level that was recorded before the holidays. However, at least one mill has raised its offers to €460/mt on the expectations of some improvement in apparent demand.