Import offers once again attractive in European flat steel market

Demand in the European flat steel market is still weak due to the summer season. However, the euro has lost strength against the other currencies, declining to €1.1 to the dollar due to uncertainty following the success of the No vote in the Greek referendum on July 5. On the other hand, import offers to the region have decreased over the past two weeks, again becoming attractive for European buyers. 
 
Over the past two weeks, hot rolled coil (HRC) offers in the local European market have decreased by €15/mt ($17/mt) on the upper end to €370-400/mt ($407-440/mt), cold rolled coil (CRC) offers have declined by €5/mt ($6/mt) on the upper end to €455-480/mt ($501-528/mt) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil offers in northern and southern Europe have remained unchanged at €470-490/mt ($517-539/mt) and €430-450/mt ($473-495/mt) respectively, all ex-works. Meanwhile, import HRC offers to Europe from sources such as China, India, the CIS, Turkey and Iran have declined by €15/mt ($17/mt) over the past two weeks to €350-370/mt ($385-407/mt) CIF, while CRC offers from the same sources to Europe have remained stable over the same period in the range of €425-455/mt ($468-501/mt) CIF. 
 
€1 = $1.1