Although sentiments have been rather positive in the EU hot rolled coil (HRC) market, the range of domestic offer prices has remained mainly unchanged given the full order books of European mills for the first quarter of this year. At the same time, foreign HRC suppliers have continued to test the market with slightly higher offers this week, though being less aggressive than in previous weeks amid the lack of trading.
More specifically, HRC offers prices in the EU have remained at the same level as last week, standing at €740-780/mt ex-works, with workable prices in Italy and Spain still standing at €740-750/mt ex-works, but with the official HRC offers from mills at €760-780/mt ex-works. In northern Europe, domestic HRC have remained at €760-780/mt ex-works, the same as last week, while transaction prices have still been voiced at €750-760/mt ex-works.
“In my view, the uptrend has lost its fuel, but it is not clear where the market will go as steel demand is basically at the same level, import are not a threat at least for now, while production is almost unchanged, as only three BFs are going to be restarted in Spain, Slovakia and Finland. So, we are in a kind of equilibrium now, though in a wait and see mood as further scenario is unclear,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, import HRC prices in southern Europe have increased to €730-760/mt CFR, versus €720-745/mt CFR last week. In particular, offers from Asia, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea have been heard in Spain at €750-760/mt CFR, up by around €20/mt week on week. Meanwhile, in Italy, most ex-Asia HRC offers have been heard at €730-750/mt CFR, with several deals for ex-India reported to have been done at $800/mt CFR and slightly above level (around €743/mt CFR), up by €20/mt on average week on week. According to sources, a Vietnamese producer has sold its HRC to southern Europe at around $680/mt FOB this week, which translated to around €725/mt CFR, though this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
“There is not much interest in imports now given that prices are almost at the same levels as local prices, while the delivery time is much longer, especially from Asia. However, there is still a threat that European mills will increase their HRC offers for the second quarter by at least €20/mt, which means the official prices will reach €800/mt ex-works and above,” a Spainish trader told SteelOrbis.
