The situation in the Italian flat steel market has not changed much. Compared to one month ago, there have not been any price decreases, but there have not been any significant improvements either. Despite the uncertainties relating to Taranto-based major domestic producer Ilva, there is no lack of material in the domestic market and this implies that consumption in the downstream market is far from brilliant. Nevertheless, flat steel supplies are on the low side at all levels of the supply chain, because of the usual financial problems. Domestic prices have been roughly stable for a couple of months - local producers tried to raise them at least once, but prices kept slipping slightly. Such decreases were slight because profit margins are already very low throughout the supply chain.
Currently, domestic producers' base prices in Italy are at €410-420/mt ($558-572/mt) for hot rolled coils (HRC), €480-495/mt ($653-673/mt) for cold rolled coils (CRC) and €460-480/mt ($626-653/mt) for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coils, all ex-works.
€1 = $1.36