Over the past week, Romanian flat steel spot traders have decided to raise their offers slightly, in response to better sentiment regarding EU flats prices, mostly due to Arcelor Mittal's price increase and the price situation in China. Although prices have increased in Romania, market players indicate that trade is not particularly supportive of maintaining offers at high levels in the coming weeks. In the meantime, sources claim that Romania's sole flat steel manufacturer, who stopped production in recent months, does not have a presence in the market.
According to reports, this week in the spot market, traders have quoted HRS prices at €720-730/mt ex-warehouse, up from €710-720/mt ex-warehouse, and CRS prices at €820-835/mt ex-warehouse, up from €810-830/mt ex-warehouse, both week on week.
Moreover, in the import segment, HRC offers from Turkey have continued to increase this week, with FOB prices at approximately $585-600/mt and freight costs at around €25/mt, resulting in a price to Romania at around €560-575/mt CFR, up from €550-555/mt CFR in previous weeks. However, the Ukrainian supplier, that previously quoted at €650-660/mt DAP for HRS and €740-750/mt DAP for CRS sheets, is not offering to Romania currently because it plans to increase its prices in the coming weeks, but sources say consumers are not ready for a price increase.