The current week has been rather quiet in the European hot rolled coil (HRC) market since most market players and businesses are already in holiday mood, especially those in southern Europe. At the same time, local prices for HRC in the region have remained relatively stable, with some downward bias reported in tradable prices. At the same time, sentiment has remained mixed over the price outlook, with some sources claiming that prices have yet to bottom out, while steel mills are targeting an increase in their offers after the summer holidays, counting on better demand from early September.
According to sources, the general offer level for HRC across the EU is at €630-650/mt ex-works for September delivery in the official offers from mills, the same as last week, while the workable levels are at €610-620/mt ex-works, against €620-630/mt ex-works reported last week. “There has been talk about transactions at even below €610/mt ex-works, though no official confirmation have been received from the sellers’ side,” a market insider told SteelOrbis, adding, “In order to balance the market and support prices, European producers need to cut production or prolong summer stoppages for a longer time.”
In the meantime, offers for import HRC have settled at around €565-605/mt CFR, against €570-610/mt CFR last week. The lower end of the range corresponds to ex-Vietnam HRC offers at €565/mt CFR, down by €5/mt week on week. However, interest in ex-Vietnam coils has been extremely limited given the new safeguard rules imposed in early July, coupled with the recent regarding the anti-dumping probe against Vietnamese HRC. In particular, this week, the European Commission has notified Vietnam that it has received a complaint seeking the initiation of an antidumping investigation into imports of HRC, though it has not provided more details and has not identified the party that filed the complaint. “Some expect that, if the commission finds that material has been dumped, duties could be applied retroactively,” a market insider said.
At the same time, market insiders have reported higher interest in Turkish HRC this week, with a few bookings reported to have been signed at €560-570/mt CFR, including duty, against deal prices at €590/mt CFR last week. However, offers for ex-Turkey HRC are still voiced at €590-595/mt CFR southern Europe, including duty.
Furthermore, offers for ex-India HRC have been voiced at €605/mt CFR, the same as last week, while offers from Japan have been assessed at €590/mt CFR. Besides, according to sources, this week offers from Ukraine have been reported at around €580-585/mt CFR.
