Local prices in the Polish flats market have continued to follow a downward trend due to the weakness of end-user demand, which has not shown any improvement this week. In the Polish domestic market, ready stock hot rolled coil (HRC) and hot rolled sheet (HRS) offers via traders are currently standing at the levels of €530/mt and €545-550/mt ex-warehouse respectively, while cold rolled sheet (CRS) offers are at €620/mt.
On the import side, Russian mill MMK's offer for HRC at the level of €520/mt DAF is still valid. Ukrainian mill Zaporizhstal's offers for new production HRC have this week decreased by $20/mt and are currently standing at the level of $550/mt DAF. Zaporizhstal has also revised its HRS offers, with its new offers heard to be standing at €570/mt DAF, while its CRS offers are at $670/mt DAF.
Against these import offers, this week several transactions have been heard. SteelOrbis has heard that a Polish buyer has concluded a deal for Ukrainian mill Ilyich production hot rolled coil via traders at the price level of $560/mt DAF. Again, Russian mill MMK production hot dip galvanized (HDG) has been recently sold to a Polish buyer via traders at the price level of €685/mt DAF for July shipment. In another transaction heard, a Polish plate buyer has concluded a deal with Russian plate mill Asha for commercial grade plate at the price level of €500/mt DAF. However, all these transactions were for low tonnages.
Generally speaking, the Polish flats market has started to see a lull in activity with the arrival of summer, just like the European and global steel markets. Purchases continue to be made but tonnages are not very high, as mentioned above. End-users are reported to be buying only the minimum quantities required to meet their needs. Some stockists had made purchases in order to adjust their inventory levels. Stockists have lately been waiting for mills to announce their August production prices. It is possible to say that import transaction volumes for mills' July production were better compared to previous months. SteelOrbis has heard from traders that the steel markets are expected to gain momentum as end-user demand recovers in late summer.