Although sentiments are rather positive in the EU hot rolled coil (HRC) market, most European producers have maintained their offers unchanged for December and January deliveries, while the tradable level has indicated only a slight upward correction over the past week. At the same time, most overseas suppliers have kept their HRC offers high for European buyers and some have decided to go higher.
More specifically, HRC offers prices in the EU for January deliveries have been voiced at €570-600/mt ex-works, the same as last week, with the Italian mills still targeting €570-580/mt ex-works, while in northern Europe domestic HRC prices have been heard at €600/mt ex-works from mills, the same as last week.
Meanwhile, the tradable level in Italy for December delivery coils has been voiced at €550-560/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt on the higher end of the range week on week. Besides, the workable level in northern Europe has settled at €550-570/mt ex-works in a few deals reported in Germany, the same as last week. “While in Italy we can still hear offers for December delivery, it is already hard to find December delivery HRC in northern Europe, while in central Europe several deals have been reported at around €560 CPT Czech Republic,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
“Trade has been limited this week as nobody wants to risk buying big volumes now. But more restocking is definitely expected in mid-December for January-February deliveries,” a local trader told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, although demand for import HRC has remained extremely limited in Europe due to competitive local prices coupled with safeguard and antidumping-related risks, import HRC prices have showed some increases in Europe this week, reaching €555-620/mt CFR, depending on the origin, up by €5-10/mt week on week. Most offers for ex-Asia HRC in Italy have been estimated at €555-590/mt CFR, with the lower end of the range corresponding to offers for ex-Indonesia HRC at €555/mt CFR Italy and €560/mt CFR Spain “for small and medium-sized lots”.
Meanwhile, suppliers from South Korea have been offering at around $620-625/mt CFR Spain, which translates to around €588-595/mt CFR, while offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have been heard at €588-590/mt CFR, with no new deals reported this week.
At the same time, although most European buyers have been refraining from new purchases from India to avoid potential retrospective dumping duty, a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-India HRC has been signed with an Italian mill at $590/mt CFR or around €560/mt CFR, according to sources. Meanwhile, most offers for ex-India HRC have been reported at €570-580/mt CFR southern Europe, mainly the same as last week.
Furthermore, according to sources, this week ex-Turkey HRC offers have been voiced at around €610-620/mt CFR, including duty, against €580-600/mt CFR last week.