Activity has been stagnating in the EU HRC domestic market in the past week. On one side, local demand has weakened after the strong price increases recorded in past months, while on the other hand, domestic mills are satisfied with their order books and are not in a hurry to sell. In this context, local HRC transaction prices have slipped by €25/mt on average compared to June 29 to €1,100-1,180/mt ex-works. More specifically, €1,100-1,150/mt is the range in the Italian market, while higher prices can be achieved in northern Europe. However, most sources believe this price decrease is not indicative of a turnaround in the price trend, as supply remains tight and lead times are in the fourth quarter at the earliest. "A lot of buyers have paused their purchases as they have sufficient stocks now, and they also have credit limits, but they will go back buying in September," one source commented. "I don't believe producers intend to retreat in terms of prices," another source told SteelOrbis, although they added that transaction prices in the past few weeks have been impacted by more competitive import offers. "Japan has been offering material at around €1,000/mt CFR Italy for August shipments, while ex-Turkey offers are a little higher and ex-India offers seem a little lower. However, these countries have to deal with quotas and antidumping duties or threats of antidumping duties." In fact, it is rumored that the EU is preparing to launch an antidumping investigation into imported HRC of Indian origin. Meanwhile, India exhausted its July-September quota for HRC shipments on the first day of the quarter, as reported by SteelOrbis. Finally, sources have added that they doubt domestic supply will be able to increase significantly in the second half of this year, and so prices should not decline significantly. Moreover, in the short term, many European mills are expected to halt their production activities due to scheduled maintenance works in the holiday period.