Prices remain stable in European flat steel market

Demand in the European flat steel market has been at medium levels during the past two weeks ahead of the summer holiday and routine maintenance works. Buyers are expected to reduce their purchasing activity gradually, while flat steel prices in the European market are expected to move sideways throughout the holiday season. European market players state that demand is better compared to previous years, though domestic producers are unlikely to increase their prices since they might thus lose ground to cheaper import offers.
 
In the current week, hot rolled coil (HRC) offers in the local European market are in the range of €395-435/mt ($442-487/mt), cold rolled coil (CRC) offers are at €460-490/mt ($515-549/mt) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) coil offers in northern and southern Europe are at €480-500/mt ($538-560/mt) and €440-460/mt ($493-515/mt) respectively, all ex-works. Over the past two weeks, local flat steel prices in actual deals have remained unchanged. Import HRC offers to Europe have declined by €5/mt ($6/mt) during the same period - from sources such as China, India, the CIS, Turkey and Iran - and are currently at €375-395/mt ($420-442/mt) CIF, while CRC offers from the same sources to Europe have remained unchanged in the range of €430-460/mt ($482-515/mt) CIF. 
 
€1 = $ 1.12