In the local Italian market, domestic flat steel producers still seem determined not to allow any decrease in prices, and in fact they are still pushing to achieve an increase of about €30 ($41/mt) announced 15-20 days ago. After the bottom levels seen last November, producers are striving to restore their profitability. Although currently no significant price decreases are observed in the market, it is not uncommon for very slight discounts to be offered during transactions. As regards Italian flat steel service centers, there is a lot of confusion: on the one hand, there are those who have already asked for increases, while on the other hand some service centers have not asked for any significant price increases yet, probably due to the need to sell materials and improve their liquidity. According to sources interviewed by SteelOrbis, such operators should ask for higher prices to allow the market as a whole to indicate real improvement. Despite the arrival of the New Year, the market situation does not seem to differ compared to the final weeks of 2013. Market players hope that the downstream market will be more lively in the coming weeks.
Currently, Italian domestic producers' base prices are at €440-450/mt ($598-612/mt) for hot rolled coils (HRC), €515-530 ($700-721/mt) for cold rolled coils (CRC) and €490-520/mt ($666-707/mt) for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils, all ex-works.
€1 = $1.36