The European HRC market has remained pessimistic, affected by still slow demand, with most service centers barely having orders from their downstream customers for the first quarter of 2024. However, in terms of prices, local prices both in northern and southern Europe, have remained unchanged over the past week, and most market insiders share the opinion that the market has reached the bottom and will not go down further in the short term, though it is also unlikely to see significant rebound for the moment.
This week, domestic offers for HRC in the EU have settled at $600-640/mt ex-works, mainly for delivery in December, the same as last week. More specifically, prices in Italy have been heard at €600-620/mt ex-works, with the lower end of the range corresponding to the tradable level and with the higher end to offers from mills, the same as last week. According to sources, trade activity has been slightly better in Italy this week, but based on the necessity to restock rather than on a demand improvement. Meanwhile, although mills in northern Europe have kept pushing for $640/mt ex-works and even slightly higher levels, workable prices have remained at €600-620/mt ex-works. “One of the mills in the Netherlands has reported that they are receiving some inquiries and that the market is accepting the prices that two weeks ago were not acceptable,” a European trader told SteelOrbis.
“EU mills were able to stop the price decrease and are now maintaining their levels, but we have also heard that ArcelorMittal, which is actively cutting production in the region, plans to increase its offers by €80/mt, but this is not official and looks very unrealistic so far in the current market conditions,” a Spanish trader said.
Meanwhile, import offers have not been very appealing this week, because of a combination of slow demand and most import prices remaining stable at high levels and even showing some increase as mills are unwilling to provide discounts. Import HRC prices have been voiced at €600-630/mt CFR southern Europe, against €580-615/mt CFR last week. In particular, offers for ex-Vietnam HRC have increased by $20/mt to €600/mt CFR, while suppliers from Japan and Taiwan have been offering at €610-615/mt CFR, up by €10/mt week on week. Offers from one of the biggest South Korean HRC mills have been voiced in Spain at €610-620/mt CFR with limited availability and, according to sources, additionally they want to control the quota. Offers for ex-Egypt HRC have been heard at €630/mt CFR Spain, while last week ex-Egypt materials were offered in Italy at €610–615/mt CFR Italy.