While the business operations in the European hot rolled coil (HRC) market have been gradually slowing down ahead of the holidays, the key local producer ArcelorMittal has decided to push its domestic prices across the EU up by around €30/mt. Moreover, while some of the sources still do not exclude a further hike to be seen in late January mainly amid the review of the safeguard measures, others believe this will not be easy given no signs of demand recovery in the next couple of months, emphasizing ArcelorMittal’s recent price hike as “traditional move before winter holidays to test the market”. In the import segment, most offers have remained relatively stable, though most of the customers have been stepping back from HRC bookings amid a safeguard and antidumping related risks.
More specifically, in the local EU market, ArcelorMittal announced its new target for HRC at €630/mt ex-works for February and March deliveries, €30/mt up from the previous official levels. Meanwhile, official offers from other European mills have been estimated at €600/mt ex-works in northern Europe, against €580-600/mt ex-works last week, and at €590-600/mt ex-works in Italy, up by €10/mt on the higher end of range over the past week. Though, according to sources, the tradable level is currently not above €580/mt ex-works level in the north, and at around €570-580/mt ex-works in Italy.
“Mills are aiming €600/mt ex-works following price hike of ArcelorMittal, but most orders have been reported at lower levels or at around €580-590/mt ex-works this week following a slight pick-up in restocking before holidays, as customers are worried about extended upcoming winter stoppages,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile in the import segment, most ex-Asia HRC prices have been voiced at around €560-580/mt CFR for mainly March shipment, mainly the same as last week. According to sources, import trade has been close to zero, with only occasional deals reported for around 10,000 mt of ex-Indonesia HRC in particular at around €560/mt CFR Spain this week. Besides, a few offers for ex-Indonesia HRC have been also heard at €555/mt CFR southern Europe.
Furthermore, offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been heard at around €550-570/mt CFR, including duty, versus deal price at €560/mt CFR reported last week.