According to market sources, European flat steel producers’ prices have remained stable over the past week, while trading activity is extremely weak ahead of the preliminary announcement by the European Commission (EC) regarding the antidumping duty investigation against hot rolled coil (HRC) imports from five countries. While the preliminary decision is due on April 7, unofficial reports have indicated that the EC will not apply provisional duties on the products in question. The final decision is scheduled for October 7. Market sources have indicated that, if no provisional duties are imposed on the HRC imports, import volumes could increase in the EU until the announcement of the final decision and could impact local flat steel prices.
Currently, Italian producers’ prices stand in the range of €535-560/mt ($567-594/mt) ex-works for hot rolled coil (HRC), at €640-665/mt ($678-705/mt) ex-works for cold rolled coil (CRC) and at €650-680/mt ($689-721/mt) ex-works for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil.
Meanwhile, although European producers have not changed their offers, buyers are not willing to buy at what they consider to be high levels. According to sources, their firm bids are €520-530/mt ($551-562/mt) for HRC, €610-630/mt ($647-668/mt) for CRC, and €650-680/mt ($689-721/mt) for HDG, all ex-works.
€1 = $1.06