Import hot rolled coil (HRC) prices in the European market have increased significantly over the past couple of weeks. Moreover, the levels are already being accepted by buyers for small and medium-sized lots, taking into account the persisting uptrend and the limited material allocation in the local market. As a result, the import prices for HRC in the EU have hit and in some cases exceeded the $1,000/mt CFR threshold.
According to sources, offers from an India-based mill have been reported at $1,000/mt CFR for June-July shipments, up by at least $60/mt since late last month, SteelOrbis understands. Deals for medium-sized batches have been closed in southern Europe at $990/mt CFR and more transactions are expected to follow.
Russia’s Severstal has hit a new high in deals to Europe too. Recently, the supplier managed to sell 5,000-7,000 mt at $970-975/mt FOB Baltic region for June production, which corresponds to around $1,010-1,015/mt deliveries duty paid, up by $10-15/mt over the past week. It is worth mentioning that some other CIS-based HRC sellers, which have been out of the EU market for a while due to strong trade restrictions are now reporting that they are receiving inquiries at acceptable price levels.
Turkey remains present in the export market also, having increased base offers by around $20-30/mt over the past week to $930-940/mt FOB and above. According to sources, the lower end of the range translates to offers to southern Europe at around $1,005-1,035/mt CFR effective and depending on the supplier, as they have different AD rates in sales to the EU. No fresh deals have been heard from Turkey but negotiations for July-August shipments are continuing, SteelOrbis understands.
The Egyptian HRC exporter is not in the market yet and is expected to announce fresh offers for July-August shipments in the coming days. The latest sales from Ezz Steel were closed to southern Europe at $905/mt FOB, as SteelOrbis reported earlier.
