Given the recent improvements in trade, Romania-based flats traders have decided to keep their offers stable week on week, especially as most traders do not want to abandon their current optimism given the bleak picture in the global flats market. However, according to market players, although demand is particularly strong among bigger and medium-sized traders, smaller traders report that trading is a bit slower, even though volumes have grown in comparison to the previous period.
Over the last week, in the flat steel spot market, prices for both hot rolled sheet (HRS) and cold rolled sheets (CRS) have remained stable week on week at €790-820/mt ex-warehouse and €900-950/mt ex-warehouse, respectively.
Furthermore, in the import market, Turkey's offers for hot rolled coil (HRC) have continued to fall, with FOB prices at $635-660/mt and, given freight costs of roughly €25/mt, arriving in Romania at around €605-630/mt CFR, down from €620-635/mt CFR in previous weeks. In contrast, according to sources, Ukrainian suppliers continue to provide the same HRS and CRS prices as last week, at €700/mt and €780-790/mt, respectively.
