Hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have strengthened further in the Italian domestic market ahead of the holiday season. While transaction prices in the local market were at €420-430/mt one week ago, they are now mostly close to €430/mt, both on ex-works basis. Meanwhile, cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices are at €510-520/mt ex-works.
As reported previously, the current uptrend is due to local production cuts, reduced supply from Ilva, higher raw material costs and the increase in import price offers which have even surpassed the €450/mt CFR level for Turkish HRC. However, end-user demand is still slow, and has decreased further in the past week due to the end-of-year period. At the same time, apparent demand has weakened since service centers have sufficient stocks and they also have doubts about the sustainability of the current uptrend.
In any case, all European mills are insisting on price increases for now and transaction prices are expected to remain strong or increase further in January after the end of the festive season. In the northern European market, HRC prices have jumped from €425-430/mt ex-works to €430-440/mt ex-works in the past week.