European mills, which have been maintaining their offers at high levels during all the month of January given their low availability amid fully booked orders for March and slight improvement in steel demand, are targeting further hikes for deliveries in the second quarter this year, expecting more restocking next month. At the same time, the interest of European buyers in import offers has remained limited due to trade restrictions.
More specifically, bullish sentiment has dominated among HRC producers in northern Europe, driven by the limited availability of both imported material and local HRC amid fully booked orders for March, making mills hesitant to offer significant discounts. Besides, a slight uptick in domestic demand from the automotive sector has further bolstered domestic HRC prices. Thus, HRC offers from mills in the north have been voiced at €620-630/mt ex-works for mainly April delivery, up by €10-20/mt week on week, though according to sources, some small volumes for March delivery HRC have still been occasionally offered at €590-600/mt ex-works, the same as last week.
Meanwhile, business activity in Italy has been slower than in the north of Europe, with offers from Italian mills reported at €600-610/mt ex-works, the same as last week, though, according to sources, “Italian producers have also been targeting higher prices, at around €620/mt ex-works for second quarter deliveries”. At the same time, the tradable HRC prices have been voiced at €580-590/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt week on week. “The limited availability of imported material supports the bullish mood in the region. However, the prices trend in Italy will highly depend on the results of the safeguard duty review, while real domestic demand is not expected to improve significantly in February,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
In the import segment, most offers are estimated at €560-590/mt CFR, up by €20/mt on the lower end of the range over the past week. According to sources, offers from Asian suppliers have been extremely limited, with only several offers from Indonesia and Japan reported at €570/mt CFR and €560/mt CFR, respectively. Meanwhile, ex-Turkey HRC offers directly from mills have been voiced at €590/mt CFR, including duty, while the same material from traders have been offered at around €605/mt CFR Spain, including duty, according to sources. “Demand for import bookings is nearly nonexistent. Consequently, buyers are gradually sourcing HRC domestically, with recent transactions reflecting prices of €590-600/mt ex-work,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.