As expected, European producers have continued to push for higher HRC offers following the €50/mt increase by the leading regional producer last week. Besides, the tradable price level has also increased in new deals across the region, though by the end of the week business activity has been close to zero ahead of the holidays.
Workable prices in the EU HRC market have increased to €650-680/mt ex-works, versus €630-650/mt ex-works last week. More specifically, official offers from Italian mills have been voiced at €650-680/mt ex-works, up by €20-30/mt week on week, while the tradable level has been estimated at not below €650/mt ex-works level. “Several big producers in southern Europe have increased their official offers to €680/mt ex-works and most of them are already aiming for €700/mt ex-works,” a market insider said.
Meanwhile, in northern Europe, although some occasional contracts have still been heard at around €630/mt ex-works, most new deals have been reported at €650-670/mt ex-works. “Trade activity improved at the beginning of this week as buyers were filling their gaps for January delivery HRC and we could actually sell at €20-30/mt higher than last week,” a market participant told SteelOrbis.
At the same time, some market sources have shared a better outlook for January, citing the higher deal prices accepted this week and anticipated HRC supply shortages given production cuts.
In the meantime, import HRC offers in southern Europe have been relatively stable over the past week, with most offers at €640-665/mt CFR, depending on the origin. In particular, after a deal for around 20,000/mt of ex-India HRC was signed at €635-645/mt CFR southern Europe, new offers have been heard at €650/mt CFR Italy and some at €660-665/mt CFR Spain. However, according to some sources, one of the Indian mills has still been offering at last week’s level of €630/mt CFR southern Europe. At the same time, indicative offers from Asian suppliers, like those from Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and South Korea, have been reported at around €640-660/mt CFR. Besides, after a deal for ex-Egypt HRC was reported at around $670/mt (€630/mt) CFR Spain last week, the indicative offers have settled at above €640/mt CFR.
