While the Italian flat rolled markets indicated a rising trend in the pre-holiday period, buyers in this market, who completed the major part of their purchases before the summer break, have been maintaining a wait-and-see stance after the holidays.
In the Italian domestic market, the hot rolled coil price of local producer Ilva stands at €420-430/mt ex-works, while the price of fellow local producer Arvedi for the same product is at €440-450/mt ex-works. On the import side, Indian offers made to Italy are at around $640/mt CFR. Offers from China for hot rolled coils slipped back from levels of €400-410/mt CFR early last week to €390/mt CFR by the end of last week. This week, Chinese offers have slipped further to the level of €385/mt CFR. Due to the price decreases in China, buyers in Italy prefer to wait some more before they make any move.
In the meantime, an upward trend is observed in the Portuguese market. We have lately seen a €25/mt increase in this market compared to early September levels. This increasing trend has been triggered by market rumors that offer levels from Italy and Spain will increase. In the Portuguese domestic market, the sales price from service centers is at around €500/mt ex-warehouse. Local galvanized steel producer Lusosider has not yet announced its November production price levels, most probably since its order books are full up to then.
In Bulgaria, the problems at Kremikovitzi are still pending. Although Zaporizstahl offer levels to Bulgaria are not clear yet, traders are offering Ilyich production ready stock material at €400/mt CFR. November production offers to Bulgaria from Slovak producer US Steel Kosice have also moved up, by €40/mt. Current offers from this producer for 2 mm hot rolled coils are standing at €434/mt CFR, while its 0.5 mm cold rolled coils are at €569/mt CFR. As for plates, October production S235 grades from local Bulgarian producer Stomana are offered in the price range of BGN 820-840/mt CPT.
Generally speaking, buying activity is not so strong in southern Europe, due to the very recent return of the European countries from their holidays, added to the price decreases seen in China. Currently, buyers prefer to wait while producers struggle to push their prices upwards. However, in the event that exports from China start increasing, it should be noted that EUROFER (the European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries) might consider initiating antidumping investigations.