This week, prices for cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) from European mills have remained relatively stable showing only a slight upward bias in offers from mills, though producers have been failing to attract buyers given the weak demand from end-users especially in the CRC segment. Meanwhile, most foreign suppliers of CRC and HDG in the region have decided to go higher in their offers, supported mainly by the bullish mood mounting among EU mills, who are targeting price increases in the first quarter of 2025 despite poor demand.
In the domestic CRC market in the EU, offers from most producers have settled at €660-690/mt ex-works, with the lower end of the range corresponding to offers in Italy at €660-670/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt on the higher end of range over the past two weeks. Meanwhile, offers in northern Europe from mills have been voiced at €670-690/mt ex-works, up by €10/mt since the middle of December. However, according to sources, while mills have been targeting higher offers for deliveries in the first quarter of 2025, customers have kept insisting on discounts. Thus, the tradable price levels in both southern and northern Europe are still estimated at €655-660/mt ex-works, the same as two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, import prices for CRC in southern Europe have been voiced at €640-660/mt CFR, mostly for ex-Asia materials. According to sources, a deal for ex-Japan CRC for around 20,000 mt has been signed at $665-670/mt CFR, or around €640-645/mt CFR Europe, up by €10/mt compared to offers reported two weeks ago. At the same time, according to sources, several offers from ex-Japan CRC have also been voiced at €630/mt CFR southern Europe by the end of this week. Besides, offers from other Asian suppliers, including those India and South Korea, have been reported at around €645/mt CFR.
In the meantime, local prices for HDG have been estimated at €680-700/mt ex-works from mills in southern and northern Europe, up by €10/mt over the past two weeks, though the tradable prices have been voiced at around €670/mt ex-works in Italy and at €670-680/mt ex-works in the north. “We heard talk about new offers from ArcelorMittal at around €750/mt ex-works in the north, but it seems totally unworkable, at least for now,” a market insider said.
At the same time, most import offers for HDG have settled at €700-750/mt CFR southern Europe, depending on the supplier and material grade. Offers for ex-India Z120 HDG have been reported at around €750/mt CFR, up by €25/mt over the past two weeks, while offers for Z100 HDG from Vietnam have been estimated at around €690-700/mt CFR.