Despite the ongoing weak trade activity which exerts significant pressure on the market, Romanian flat steel spot traders have continued to maintain fairly stable offers over the past week. Nonetheless, according to reports, certain traders have begun to offer around €10/mt discounts to attract more customers. In the meantime, Romania's sole flat steel producer, which has yet to return to the market, has announced that production will resume on May 9, but the majority of market players do not believe this date is realistic because of the company's continuing problems, which include a shortage of raw materials and trouble paying salaries.
Currently, in the spot market, workable domestic hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices are quoted at €725-750/mt ex-warehouse, unchanged week on week. Similarly, cold rolled sheet offers have remained stable compared to last week at around €835-850/mt ex-warehouse.
In the meantime, activity has been very quiet in the import segment this week, with no fresh purchases made by Romanian customers. Offers for HRS and CRS from Ukraine remain unchanged from the previous week, at €660-670/mt DAP and €750-760/mt DAP, respectively. HRC offers from Turkey have declined slightly this week, with FOB pricing at roughly $550-575/mt and freight cost at around €25/mt, resulting in a price to Romania at around €510-535/mt CFR, down from €515-535/mt CFR.