European hot rolled (HRC) buyers both in the north and south have kept refraining from restocking given weak end-user demand in almost all sectors, and, although some positivity has been seen in the automotive sector, the sectoral data have remained below pre-pandemic levels so far. Meanwhile, HRC import offers have remained mainly unchanged over the past week, while trade activity has been close to zero and is not expected to revive until early October when the next EU safeguard import quota period will start.
The official positions of European steel mills, especially those in northern Europe, have remained unchanged, with persistently high offers, standing at €680/mt ex-works. However, the real market situation has continued to be stably pessimistic, with tradable prices at the same levels as last week at €620-630/mt ex-works in Italy and €630-650/mt ex-works in the north.
As for import prices, offers from almost all the main suppliers to southern Europe have remained at €610-635/mt CFR, depending on the supplier. Offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have been reported at €610/mt CFR, the same as last week, while ex-India HRC has been offered at stable levels of €610/mt CFR Italy and €620/mt CFR Spain. Meanwhile, most offers for ex-Japan HRC are still heard at €610/mt CFR, though some ex-Japan offers have been heard in Spain at €630/mt CFR. Furthermore, according to sources, Vietnamese sellers have been receiving bids from Europe at $590/mt FOB, which translates to around $650/mt CFR or €610/mt CFR.
Offers for ex-Egypt HRC have been voiced at €635/mt CFR, the same as last week.
