Southern European flat steel markets remain quiet

After remaining quiet in the last two weeks of February, the southern European flat steel markets have continued to be stagnant at the start of March. Nevertheless, European buyers have continued their flat steel bookings, albeit at low volumes due to the market uncertainty.
 
In the first week of March, the Portuguese flat steel market has not witnessed any significant changes as compared to previous weeks. In Portugal's domestic market, hot rolled sheet (HRS) prices are still standing at €660-670/mt ($921-935/mt) ex-warehouse. In February, hot rolled coil (HRC) offers given from Italy and Spain to Portugal have been standing at €630-640/mt ($879-893/mt) CFR. Currently, Portuguese steel producer Lusosider's HDG coil base price stands at €730/mt ($1,019/mt) ex-works, while the base price for HDG offers from Italy and Spain are at €720-730/mt ($1,005-1,019/mt) CFR. New flat steel offers from Italian and Spanish steel producers are awaited in Portugal.
 
SteelOrbis has learned from market sources that in the Spanish market HRC offers given via traders are at the effective price range of €560-580/mt ($781-809/mt) CIF FO, while HRC offers from South Korea stand at €600/mt ($837/mt) CIF FO. In the meantime, it is reported that in the Spanish domestic market some HRC transactions have been concluded at the base price level of €610/mt ($851/mt).
 
Market players indicate that demand is still slow in the Greek domestic market, in line with the ongoing effects of the financial crisis, and this causes the gap to widen between traders' offers and end-users' counter offers, leading buyers to only conclude bookings at low volumes. The weak flat steel demand in the Greek domestic market has also entailed a decline in the import volume. Nevertheless, SteelOrbis has learned that in Greece some low volume flat steel transactions have been concluded from Turkey and Ukraine.
 
€1 = $1.395