Regardless of the continuing low demand, Romanian flat steel spot traders have increased their offers, ending the stability of prices. According to market players, the cause for this increase is the continuing optimism and the increased prices in the EU flats market. However, most traders believe that this rise is just temporary since internal difficulties such as liquidity problems and a lack of trading remain a worry.
As a result, in the Romanian flat steel spot market, the majority of traders have raised their hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices week on week by €10-20/mt to €720-745/mt ex-warehouse. Similarly, offers for cold rolled sheets (CRS) have increased to €840-865/mt ex-warehouse, from €820-845/mt ex-warehouse last week.
Meanwhile, since Romania's sole flat steel manufacturer has not made any announcements or new offers, many traders are not interested in continuing to buy from them and instead choose other suppliers.
Although no fresh import sales have been announced, offers from Ukraine, an important source for Romanian traders, have remained stable for HRS and CRS at €650-660/mt DAP and €740-750/mt DAP, respectively. Turkey, on the other hand, has increased its hot rolled coil offers, with FOB pricing of approximately $535-550/mt and freight costs of around €25/mt, resulting in a price to Romania of around €540-550/mt CFR, up from €530-540/mt CFR.