Italian producers' local prices have decreased by about €20/mt ($23/mt)compared to a month ago.
Currently, domestic producers' base prices in Italy are at €370-380/mt ($422-433/mt) for hot rolled coil (HRC), at around €460-475/mt ($524-542/mt) for cold rolled coil (CRC) and at €430-435/mt ($490-496/mt) for hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil, all ex-works.
Sources interviewed by SteelOrbis do not see any signs of a trend reversal on the horizon. They say that a push for a change in the situation could come only from the international market, but for the moment the global market remains characterized by high uncertainty and steel prices have continued to decline in most countries. In particular, the weak markets in the Far East, while not resulting in a real threat of imports coming to Italy, keep sending negative signals that make it even more difficult for the Italian domestic market to strengthen.
Furthermore, in the Italian domestic market there are still problems such as the erosion of profit margins, the usual financial difficulties and the increasing tendency of steel producers to sell directly to end-users, thereby bypassing traders and service centers. Inventories remain very low, which is a symptom of the fact that most local market players, faced with the difficulty of finding the finance they need to buy material and the absence of possibilities for speculation, prefer to work with short delivery times.
€1 = $1.14