European HRC producers have been forced to drop their HRC offers again this week given the impossibility of competing with cheap import prices. Besides, market insiders have been discussing new HRC offers from ArcelorMittal which are down €70/mt as compared to the official offers announced back in late May, which has increased the pressure on other European steelmakers. In the meantime, most market insiders have the feeling that import HRC prices have finally hit the bottom.
More specifically, HRC offers from European mills have been heard at €650-720/mt ex-works, versus €680-770/mt ex-works last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to the tradable level for HRC in Italy, though, according to some sources, buyers were trying to conclude new deals at even €630/mt ex-works level. Offers from Italian mills, however, have been reported at around €670/mt ex-works, down by €10-30/mt week on week.
Meanwhile, customers in northern Europe have estimated the workable price level at €700/mt ex-works, down by €20-50/mt over the past week, while offers from some mills have been heard at €720-740/mt ex-works, down by €20-40/mt over the past week. “We heard USS Kosice offered HRC at €650 ex-works base, but nothing else from north European sources has been heard yet under €700/mt,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, this week market insiders have been discussing new offers for September delivery HRC from global producer ArcelorMittal at €700/mt ex-works, down by €70 from the official offers at €770/mt ex-works announced back in late May. “This information is not official yet, and we believe every order is now directly negotiated with each customer,” a market insider said.
As for import prices, offers to southern Europe have settled at around €580-605/mt CFR, down by €20/mt from the higher end of the range over the past week. More specifically, offers from Southeast Asian suppliers, including Vietnam and Indonesia, have been heard in Italy at the lowest level among all suppliers at €580/mt CFR, with some for ex-Vietnam even reported at €560/mt CFR. “The lowest offers from Asia have been reported at $620/mt CFR, or around €580/mt CFR but for big buyers (30,000 mt plus), though the Asians are starting to look for more as Chinese confidence is slowly returning,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Offers for ex-India and ex-Taiwan HRC have been voiced at $640/mt CFR, which translates to around €587/mt CFR, compared to ex-India offers at €600-625/mt CFR last week. Besides, suppliers from Japan and South Korea have been offering their materials at around €595-605/mt CFR, mainly the same as last week.
Furthermore, import offers for ex-Asia HRC in northern Europe have been heard at €600-610/mt CFR, the same as last week.
$1 = €0.93