Local offers in European flat steel market still face import competition

Demand in the European flat steel market is still weak due to the summer season. Market sources state that local offers in the European flat steel market have continued to face import competition during the past week amid ongoing negotiations for September delivery. Meanwhile, local producers have been offering discounts to buyers and, with the euro-dollar exchange rate in the range of one euro to $1.09-1.1, buyers have preferred to purchase from the local market.
 
Over the past two weeks, hot rolled coil (HRC) offers in the local European market have decreased by €20/mt ($22/mt) to €350-370/mt ($385-407/mt), cold rolled coil (CRC) offers have declined by €5/mt ($5.5/mt) to €430-465/mt ($473-512/mt) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil offers in northern and southern Europe have remained unchanged at €460-480/mt ($506-528/mt) and €410-450/mt ($451-495/mt) respectively, all ex-works. Meanwhile, import HRC offers to Europe from sources such as China, India, the CIS, Turkey and Iran have declined by €5/mt ($5.5/mt) over the past two weeks to €320-350/mt ($352-385/mt) CIF, while CRC offers from the same sources to Europe have decreased by €20/mt ($22/mt) over the same period to the range of €390-425/mt ($429-468/mt) CIF. 
 
€1 = $1.10