Since the holiday mood has persisted and the market has remained dormant, Romania's flat steel market has been quiet this week. As a result, the majority of Romanian flat steel traders have left their offers unchanged from the previous week, while no fresh offers have been received from the country’s sole flat steel producer. Sources indicate that the sole producer, which had planned to restart production in January, is unlikely to do so anytime soon unless its financial difficulties are resolved.
As a result, Romania’s flat steel spot prices have remained stable week on week, with hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices still at €715-735/mt ex-warehouse and cold rolled sheet (CRS) prices remaining at €820-835/mt ex-warehouse. Meanwhile, as previously stated, the sole flat steel producer is still not giving offers.
On the other hand, in the import segment, HRC offers from Turkey have increased this week, with FOB prices at approximately $535-550/mt and freight costs at around €25/mt, resulting in a price to Romania at around €545-560/mt CFR, up from €540-555/mt CFR in previous weeks. Meanwhile, Ukrainian suppliers' offers for HRS and CRS remain unchanged from previous weeks, at €650-660/mt DAP and €740-750/mt DAP, respectively.