Although local prices for HRC have decreased once again by around €10-20/mt week on week, by the end of this week most producers have indicated a stabilization of prices given that most of them are squeezed by their costs. Besides, most import prices have stabilized as well, with some offers even showing an upward bias, while trade activity has remained slow given the limited demand from all main steel users.
More specifically, while offers from Italian mills have dropped once again by around €10-20/mt over the past week, to €630/mt ex-works for mainly May delivery, tradable prices have been estimated at €610-620/mt ex-works, against €630-640/mt ex-works last week. Furthermore, offers from HRC producers in the north have been estimated at €630-640/mt ex-works for May-June deliveries, down by €20/mt week on week, while workable prices have settled at €620-630/mt ex-works, according to sources.
“It is still definitely early to talk about any significant recovery of prices, but most mills are expected price stabilization as there is no room for a further drop even though restocking is slow both in the north and south,” a market insider told SteelOrbis, adding, “Some people are more positive and even talk of a €30/mt rise in local prices in the next round of bookings, but it’s hard to share their optimism given the current demand.”
In the meantime, most import HRC prices have stabilized and some have even firmed up, supporting more positive sentiments in the region. In particular, most ex-Asia HRC offers have been heard at €580-610/mt CFR, against €560-600/mt CFR last week. According to sources, business activity has remained limited, with only a few deals heard for ex-Japan HRC at €590/mt CFR southern Europe.
Besides, most ex-India HRC offers have been maintained at around $635/mt CFR Spain, or around €595/mt CFR, the same as last week. However, offers from a number of traders for ex-India coils have increased slightly to $645/mt CFR level (€605/mt), including 90-day deferred payment. At the same time, according to sources, several deals for around 20,000 mt in total of ex-India HRC directly from mills have been reported in Portugal at $610/mt CFR, which translates to around €573/mt CFR, though this information has not been officially confirmed by the time of publication.
$1 = €0.94