According to market sources, despite the recent loss of upward momentum in Italian domestic flat steel market after the increases seen in the past few months, Italian and European producers will keep prices at high levels and will try to increase them further.
Meanwhile, demand from downstream users is weak, as most buyers have already built up their stocks and are now covered until May. Sources believe that trading activity in the Italian domestic flat steel market will pick up after the Easter holiday, but until then buyers will only conclude purchases in line with their immediate needs.
Compared to two weeks ago, in Italy domestic producers’ prices for hot rolled coil (HRC) are currently in the range of €535-560/mt ($578-605/mt) ex-works, down $5/mt on the lower end, while their prices for cold rolled coil (CRC) have remained stable €640-665/mt ($691-718/mt) ex-works. Italian domestic hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have increased by $5/mt on the upper end to €650-680/mt ($702-734/mt) ex-works, compared to two weeks ago.
€1 = $1.08