The price uptrend in the EU hot rolled coil (HRC) market has not yet come to a halt within the past week, though it has slowed down to some extent. In particular, most European mills have maintained their official HRC offers relatively unchanged, though the tradable price levels have gained another €10-15/mt week on week. Import HRC prices have remained rather stable as well though still with some upward bias, while interest in import materials has been limited due to the narrowing of the gap between domestic and import prices, coupled with longer lead times for HRC from overseas.
Accordingly, the general tradable price range in the EU HRC market is currently at €670-695/mt ex-works, versus €660-680/mt ex-works last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to occasional deal prices at €670-680/mt ex-works in Italy for February delivery, while the higher end of the range corresponds to northern European price ideas at €685-695/mt ex-works, for February delivery as well. Besides, several deals for ex-Italy HRC have been reported in Germany at €700-720/mt delivered.
However, most official offers for European mills, both in Italy and northern Europe, have remained unchanged at €700-720/mt ex-works. “The uptrend has slowed down as more market insiders believe production cuts will not be able to sustain further growth and some production capacities, which were halted earlier, are expected to be relaunched soon. Thus, with higher availability, there will be no chance for further price hikes,” a market source told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile in the import segment, most ex-Asia HRC prices have been voiced at €640-650/mt CFR, up by €10-20/mt week on week. Meanwhile, offers from Vietnam have been voiced at $710/mt CFR or around €650/mt CFR for March shipment. At the same time, while most foreign suppliers have been struggling to attract European buyers, several batches for ex-India HRC are reported to have been sold in Europe at $700-710/mt CFR, which translates to €640-650/mt CFR for February shipment. “It is estimated at in late November-early December India managed to sell at least 50,000 mt of HRC to the EU at $695-705/mt CFR,” an international trader told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, offers for ex-Turkey HRC have been voiced at around €680/mt CFR, including duty, up by €20/mt over the past week.