According to market sources, spot prices in the local Italian HRC market have strengthened further in the past week, increasing by €5/mt to €415-420/mt ex-works. However, trading activity has been limited in the same period. Apparent demand has slackened since most buyers had restocked after ArcelorMittal was reported to be seeking to exit the Ilva takeover deal and also because they thought prices had reached bottom when raw material prices started to rise.
As reported previously, several European mills announced price increases targeting prices in the range of €430-450/mt ex-works, citing an increase in import HRC prices, import slab prices (at €400/mt CFR Italy), reduced supply, and an upturn in apparent demand. However, buyers have not paid such prices in Italy nor in northern Europe, the market sources underlined.
Production cuts and raw material costs have been supporting HRC prices in the past several weeks, but they may not increase further this year due to the approach of the year-end and of the Christmas holidays, and also due to lack of clarity regarding the Ilva crisis and import offers.
As reported previously, Turkish offers reached €450/mt CFR Italy for February shipments, but buyers have been reluctant to pay such a price taking into account the uncertainty over the trend of domestic prices. In northern Europe, HRC transaction prices have also increased slightly, from €420-425/mt to €425-430/mt ex-works.