This week, Romanian flat steel spot traders have chosen to maintain offers unchanged since there has been some market activity over the past week following previous price declines. However, according to market participants, despite the recent declines, trade has generally remained sluggish and predictions for the coming weeks are not optimistic owing to the approaching Easter holiday. In the meantime, according to market reports, the sole flat steel producer, which is currently absent from the market but has government support, is anticipated to begin production in early May and will start delivering goods by the end of the month.
Currently, in the spot market, workable domestic hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices are quoted at €710-735/mt ex-warehouse, unchanged week on week. Similarly, cold rolled sheet offers have remained stable compared to last week at around €830-850/mt ex-warehouse.
Meanwhile, in the import market, no new deals have been noticed since last week, as Romanian buyers had bought several lots, particularly from Ukraine, and are not in a rush to buy for the moment. On the other hand, offers from Ukrainian suppliers for HRS and CRS have remained stable week on week at €660-670/mt DAP and €750-760/mt DAP, respectively. Similarly, Turkish mills' HRC offers are unchanged week on week, with a FOB price of $575-585/mt and freight costs of around €25/mt, arriving in Romania at €555-565/mt CFR.