The European hot rolled coil (HRC) market has shown little sign of recovery following the holiday slowdown, although trading activity remains largely absent. At the same time, no mills so far have followed ArcelorMittal’s move to raise HRC offers by €20/mt across Europe ahead of the holidays. Meanwhile, the import HRC market has been effectively inactive this week, with buyers citing uncertainty surrounding CBAM regulations and their practical implementation.
More specifically, while offers from mills in northern Europe have been voiced not higher than €650/mt ex-works for February delivery, mainly the same as before the Christmas and New Year holidays, the tradable price level has been estimated at €630/mt ex-works, with some buyers claiming it is still possible to push prices slightly lower.
Meanwhile, indicative prices from Italian mills have been estimated at €620-640/mt ex-works for January and February delivery, while workable local HRC prices in Italy have been assessed at €610-630/mt ex-works, with trade activity estimated at even lower levels than in the north. “There is no urgency among market participants to resume business, with virtually no activity seen so far, and sentiment is noticeably weaker than ahead of the holidays,” the representative of an Italian mill told SteelOrbis.
Import activities have remained subdued, with the indicative prices are estimated at €490-565/mt CFR, versus $485-535/mt before the holidays, while HRC import offers including CBAM costs on DDP basis have remained at €600-630/mt levels, depending on the supplier.
Import offers on CFR basis, excluding CBAM-related costs, have remained scarce in the region this week, with most suppliers providing only indicative numbers. In particular, ex-India HRC offers have been voiced at $570-575/mt CFR, which translates to around €490-493/mt CFR, the same as two weeks ago. Meanwhile, offers for ex-Thailand have settled at around €565/mt CFR, up by €30/mt over the past two weeks, with talk about a deal signed at this level circulating in the market, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Offers for ex-Algeria and ex-Thailand HRC on DDP basis, including CBAM, through traders’ offers have been voiced at €620-630/mt DDP and €610-620/mt DDP, respectively.
Furthermore, market talk has emerged that Saudi Arabia’s only flat steel producer may be looking to export HRC to Europe, aided by a CO₂ surcharge advantage relative to many blast-furnace-based Asian suppliers. The cargo is said to total around 30,000 mt for March rolling, with the producer’s last export price heard near $580/mt FOB, equivalent to roughly €530/mt CFR.
$1 = €0.86