According to market sources, flat steel base prices in the local Italian market are at €500-505/mt ($590-596/mt) for hot rolled coil (HRC), €575-595/mt ($679-702/mt) for cold rolled coil (CRC) and €590-615/mt ($696-726/mt) for hot dip galvanized (HDG), all ex-works. In the past week, local HRC prices have decreased by €10/mt on the upper end, while CRC and HDG prices have trended sideways.
End-user demand has been very weak since the beginning of October, as also indicated in previous reports. However, market sources think there will not be any significant price decreases up to the end of this year. The same sources are generally optimistic concerning the first quarter of 2018, with prices expected to increase slightly thanks to a revival of demand.
€1 = $1.18