Local hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the EU have been kept mainly unchanged over the past week with mills continuing to “defend their prices” and avoiding any discounts, even though local sales have remained extremely slow. Meanwhile, the import segment has been affected by uncertainly over safeguard measures, with market insiders waiting for the decision of the European Commission to be announced before the expiry date of the current quota on June 30.
More specifically, official offers from mills have been voiced at €640-650/mt ex-works in Italy for July delivery, and at around €640-660/mt ex-works northern Europe for delivery in July and August, relatively unchanged from last week. At the same time, the tradable prices both in Italy and northern Europe have remained at €630-640/mt ex-works. “Mills are trying to maintain their offers stable, and with the current low demand both from the auto and construction sectors it is hard to believe there will be any rebound soon,” a market insider said.
Meanwhile, in the import segment, most offers have been estimated at €600-620/mt CFR levels, the same as last week, while the market has remained very quiet as no one wishes to buy from Asia since customers are waiting for the new safeguard measures. “Ex-Asia HRC is estimated to arrive more or less in October, but some say materials from Japan and Vietnam will arrive even later, maybe even in January,” a trader in Spain told SteelOrbis.
Offers from India have been voiced at $650-655/mt CFR for July shipment, which translates to around €600-605/mt CFR southern Europe. Besides, offers from Vietnam and Japan have been heard at €590-610/mt CFR Italy and through traders in Spain at €620/mt CFR.
“The current quotas will expire on June 30, unless there is a decision to extend them,” a market insider said. As SteelOrbis reported earlier, on February 9, the European Commission announced that it is initiating an investigation reviewing the safeguard measures on imports of 26 steel products, including HRC. The decision to review the safeguard measures was made following the request of 14 EU member states suggesting that the safeguard measure continue to be necessary to prevent or remedy serious injury.
According to sources, given the uncertainty over the “other countries” quota, European customers have been booking “safer” material from Turkey during past weeks. In particular, at the end of last week-beginning of this week, a deal for around 45,000 mt of ex-Turkey HRC is reported to have been signed at around €600/mt CFR, including duty, while towards the end of this week the new deal prices are already estimated at €610-620/mt CFR.
