Most European HRC producers have kept testing the market with further price increases given their low availability as, according to market sources, most European mills have declared themselves fully booked for April deliveries, while more restocking is expected in March. In the import segment, trade activity has remained limited while the price trend has been lacking clarity.
Accordingly, official HRC offers from European mills both in Italy and northern Europe have been voiced at €800-820/mt ex-works, up by €20-30/mt over the past week. However, the tradable level both in the south and north of the EU has been estimated at €770-780/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt week on week. “Most mills in Europe declared they are fully booked for April, and are increasing prices, expecting more restocking next month, though some buyers have continued to doubt the sustainability of a further price up trend in the coming months, as more mills will restart their production, while demand is unlikely to skyrocket,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
As SteelOrbis reported earlier, in addition to three blast furnaces (BFs) in Slovakia, Spain and Finland, this week the restart of one more BF was announced for April, in France, at Fos-sur-Mer plant, in particular.
Meanwhile, the import HRC market in southern Europe has been lacking clarity this week, while deals have remained occasional. Specifically, offers for ex-Asia HRC have been mainly voiced at around €750-765/mt CFR, the same as last week. At the same time, talk about a deal for ex-Japan HRC at €720/mt CFR has been circulating in the market, while offers have been voiced at as high as €760/mt CFR southern Europe.
In the meantime, at the beginning of the week, market insiders reported a deal for ex-India HRC at $805/mt CFR, which translated to around €735-740/mt CFR. Though, by the end of the week, offers for ex-India materials have still been reported at $805-815/mt CFR, on euro basis the prices have increased to around €760-765/mt CFR due to changes in the exchange rate. “There is a lot of confusion in the import segment, some people say there are offers from India still at €740/mt CFR, while some are claiming ex-India coils are at above €760/mt CFR,” an Italian trader said, adding, “In any case, the small gap with domestic prices and the long delivery time affect the import trade.”
