Trade activity in European HRC market has remained sluggish this week with some mills, especially in the north, still trying to attract buyers, decreasing their coil offers for May delivery, while most customers are in wait-and-see mode ahead of the Easter holiday in the region. Import HRC prices have been relatively stable this week but still with a downward bias in some offers.
More specifically, HRC offers from European mills, mainly for May delivery, have been evaluated at €650-670/mt ex-works in Italy and at around €700/mt ex-works in northern Europe. This means prices have remained relatively stable as compared to last week, though, according to sources, some mills in the north have been ready to provide €20/mt discounts. Meanwhile, tradable prices have been estimated at €640-650/mt ex-works Italy, while workable prices in the north have been voiced at €660-680/mt ex-works, versus €670-690/mt ex-works last week.
As for import prices, offers to southern Europe have settled at around €565-610/mt CFR, down by €15/mt on the lower end of range over the past week. According to sources, although general business activity has remained slack this week, talk has been circulating in the market this week about several deals for around 60,000 mt in total of ex-Vietnam HRC signed with buyers from Europe and the UK at $565-570/mt FOB, or at around €565-575/mt CFR. Meanwhile, most offers for ex-Vietnam HRC have been heard at €575/mt CFR, down by €5/mt week on week.
In the meantime, offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have decreased by €5/mt over the past week, falling to €585/mt CFR, while suppliers from Japan and India have been offering their materials at around $640/mt CFR, which translates to around €593/mt CFR, down by around €5/mt week on week. Besides, offers for ex-South Korea HRC have settled at €600/mt CFR, the same as last week.
Furthermore, offers from Egypt have been heard at around €590-595/mt CFR, down by €15/mt over the past week, while offers from Turkish suppliers have been estimated at €610/mt CFR, including duty.
“During the Eastern holiday, the European market is very quiet. Prices are mostly stable. But next week maybe the start of a slight uptrend in scrap can lift sentiment in the steel segment,” a European trader told SteelOrbis.
$1 = €0.93
