The Portugal flat steel market has continued to witness weak demand this month. Market players state that this is the first time for many years that flat steel price levels in northern and southern Europe have been so close, reflecting the depressed situation in the European flat steel market amid the long-standing slackness of demand. Moreover, the weakness of the US dollar against the euro is triggering an increased import flow to Portugal and has dampened export sales.
Hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices in the Portuguese domestic market have fallen by €5/mt ($7/mt) over the past month to €515-520/mt ($709-716/mt) delivered to customer, while hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil prices have decreased by €5/mt ($7/mt) in the same period and are now standing at €530/mt ($730/mt) ex-works. Both prices exclude 23 percent VAT.
In the meantime, Spanish hot rolled coil (HRC) offers to Portugal have declined by €25/mt ($34/mt) over the past month and are now standing at €445/mt ($613/mt) CIF, while Spanish HRC offers to the same destination decreased by €35/mt ($48/mt) in the same period to €550/mt ($748/mt) CIF- both for May production materials.