Latest situation in Italian flat steel market

In the Italian domestic flat steel market, the latest hot rolled coil (HRC) price level stands at €620/mt ($840/mt) ex-works. Meanwhile, Italian flat steel producer Ilva is expected to announce its new price levels soon.
 
Due to the political turmoil in Egypt, steel production in the country is reported to have halted. Accordingly, buyers in Italy, Egypt's largest flat steel export market in Europe, may eventually switch to other countries to satisfy their demand for flat steel. In the first nine months of 2010, Italy's HRC imports from Egypt totaled approximately 90,000 metric tons. The influence of the developments in Egypt on the Italian flat steel market will become clearer in the coming weeks.
 
In the Italian flat steel market, no new flat steel offers from China have been heard this week, due to the New Year holiday in China. In previous weeks, Chinese HRC offers to Italy were standing at $780-800/mt CIF FO. After the holiday, ex-China offers to Italy are foreseen to increase.
 
On the other hand, SteelOrbis has learned that HRC sales prices at Italian ports have remained at €600/mt ($820/mt) FOT.
 
€1 = $1.366