Romania's sole flat steel producer and local traders have chosen to keep prices stable week on week, even though demand in Romania's domestic market has slowed and is expected to decline even further as the holidays get closer.
“We have not changed our prices. Nonetheless, because of the Orthodox Easter holiday next week, business activity is already slow and will continue to remain so,” a representative of the sole producer told SteelOrbis.
In the meantime, trading volumes in the flats spot market are slightly varied, with larger traders indicating that demand is low but acceptable, whereas other traders claim that demand has been quite slow recently compared to usual levels.
Over the past week, the sole flat steel producer has maintained hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coils (CRC) prices at €615-620/mt ex-works and €715-720/mt ex-works, respectively. Similarly, in the coated segment, the mill's domestic pricing for HDG and PPGI is stable week on week, at €785-790/mt ex-works and €1,065-1,070/mt ex-works, respectively.
Romanian flat steel spot traders have continued to give stable offers week on week for hot rolled sheets (HRS) and cold rolled sheets (CRS) at €750-780/mt ex-warehouse and €900-950/mt ex-warehouse, respectively.
While the majority of Romanian traders hesitate to refill their stocks, when necessary they prefer to buy from the domestic producer or neighboring countries, mainly Ukraine. However, sources claim that there are currently issues with materials with both suppliers, making purchases difficult. Currently, ex-Ukraine offers to Romania for HRS and CRS are €655/mt DAP and €740/mt DAP, respectively. Furthermore, HRC offers from Turkey have remained stable week on week with FOB pricing ranging at $600-620/mt and freight at around €25/mt, resulting in a price to Romania of approximately €585-605/mt CFR. Likewise, South Korean suppliers have maintained their previous week's offering at €700/mt CIF in the S235 quality quarto plate segment.