The situation has remained broadly stable in the European cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) markets in the past week. Although local mills have been trying to sustain their offers given their production costs, tradable prices have decreased once again this week due to weak demand and worse sentiment in the hot rolled coil (HRC) segment. Meanwhile, in the import segment, most offers for both CRC and HDG have kept showing a slight downward trend.
In the domestic CRC market in the EU, most producers are offering at €750-760/mt ex-works, the same as last week, though, according to sources, customers have kept insisting on discounts, bidding at around 730-740/mt ex-works Italy, down by €10/mt week on week, while the tradable price level in northern Europe has been estimated at €740-750/mt ex-works.
Meanwhile, import prices for CRC in southern Europe have been voiced at €675-690/mt CFR, versus €685-710/mt CFR, mostly for ex-Asia materials. In particular, offers for ex-Japan CRC have been heard in Italy and €675/mt CFR and at €680/mt CFR Spain. Besides, a deal for ex-South Korea CRC has been reported at around €660/mt CFR Italy, though most ex-South Korea offers have been voiced at €680/mt CFR Spain. Suppliers from Taiwan have been offering their material at €690/mt CFR, including 60-day finance, according to Spanish traders.
Local prices for HDG have been estimated at €770-780/mt ex-works from mills in southern and northern Europe, though the tradable prices have been voiced at around €760/mt ex-works in Italy and at €770/mt ex-works in the north, down by around €30/mt week on week. At the same time, most import offers for HDG mainly for Z140 have settled at €770-775/mt CFR southern Europe, with offers for ex-Vietnam Z140 HDG coming at €770/mt CFR, down by 25/mt week on week, while offers from India have been reported at €775/mt CFR, down by 5/mt week on week. Offers for imported HDG in northern Europe have been estimated at €785-795/mt CFR, down by €5-15/mt week on week.