Local cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) prices in Europe have continued to decrease this week given the pressure from lower bids coupled with slow trading in the region. At the same time, import prices both for CRC and HDG have dropped as well but this has had no significant impact on the silent trade conditions during the Easter holiday period and has only been successful in the case of some stray deals for low volumes.
More specifically, in EU domestic CRC market, the tradable prices have dropped to €740-780/mt ex-works from €750-780/mt ex-works last week, with the lower end of the range corresponding to offers in Italy at €740-760/mt ex-works, and the higher end corresponding to offers at €760-780/mt ex-works in northern Europe. In the meantime, offers from European mills for CRC have settled at €750-770/mt ex-works Italy, mainly the same as last week and down by €10-20/mt over the last two weeks, while offers from mills in the north have been voiced at €780-800/mt ex-works, against €800-810/mt ex-works last week.
Meanwhile, import prices for CRC in southern Europe have been voiced at €685-710/mt CFR, depending on the supplier and terms of payment, down by €20/mt over the past two weeks. More specifically, offers from Taiwan, India and South Korea directly from mills have been estimated at €685/mt CFR, though offers from traders for ex-India and ex-Vietnam CRC, for 90-day deferred payment, have been estimated at €710/mt CFR. Furthermore, according to sources, one of the Japanese mills has been aggressive this week offering its CRC to European buyers at as low as €660/mt CFR, while offers from other Japanese suppliers have been heard at around €690/mt CFR.
At the same time, tradable local prices for HDG in Italy have been voiced at €760-780/mt ex-works, down by €10/mt week on week, while offers from mills have been estimated at €770-790/mt ex-works, the same as last week. Furthermore, while offers from mills in northern Europe have been assessed at €800-820/mt ex-works, down by €10/mt on the higher end of the range week on week, workable prices have settled at €780-800/mt ex-works, down by €10/mt over the past week. According to sources, demand continues to be more silent for local HDG rather than for CRC as the pressure from imports is weaker.
In particular, offers for ex-Vietnam HDG Z140 have been reported at €795/mt CFR southern Europe, while for Z100 HDG the offers are at around €770/mt CFR, down by €30/mt over the past two weeks. Other suppliers, including those from Taiwan and India, have been reported at €770-780/mt CFR, while offers for ex-Turkey HDG have been heard at around €790/mt CFR.