European mills, which have been testing the market with higher HRC prices during recent weeks, have been trying to go higher this week for March deliveries and even already for April deliveries. However, the tradable level has been at relatively unchanged considering the quite restrained trade activity due to persistently slow demand. At the same time, import HRC prices have mainly moved sideways this week, with only occasional deals reported in the market given the insurance issues for materials coming via the Red Sea coupled with the risks related to the “other countries” safeguard quota.
Specifically, while several big mills in northern Europe have continued to voice their target price for HRC at €800/mt ex-works, with no buyers accepting this level so far, other producers have been offering their materials for March-April deliveries at €760-770/mt ex-works, though the tradable level has been estimated at €740-750/mt ex-works, the same as last week. Meanwhile, Italian mills have been offering their coils at €770/mt delivered to Germany.
At the same time, offers from major Italian mills have been voiced at €760/mt ex-works, up by €5-10/mt over the past week, while most buyers have been reporting occasional transactions at €735-745/mt ex-works, against €735/mt ex-works last week. “Trade has been limited with most deals reported for small tonnages to cover urgent needs as most buyers are refraining from stockpiling,” a market insider told SteelOrbis.
Meanwhile, foreign suppliers have maintained their offers for southern European buyers unchanged over the past week with only a few deals reported this week, for ex-Turkey HRC in particular. Specifically, this week a deal for around 30,000 mt of ex-Turkey HRC is reported to have been done with Spanish buyers at $685/mt FOB, which translates to around $770/mt CFR or €707/mt CFR including duty, following several bookings were reported at around €690-695/mt CFR southern Europe last week.
At the same time, offers for ex-Asia HRC for March-April shipments have been voiced at €665-680/mt CFR. According to sources, offers for ex-Vietnam HRC for April shipment have been coming to Spain at around €665/mt CFR, though some Italian sources have been reporting offers from Vietnam at an even lower level, at €640/mt CFR. Meanwhile, offers for ex-India HRC have been estimated at €680/mt CFR, the same as last week. Suppliers from South Korea have been offering HRC at around €680/mt CFR as well, though ex-South Korea HRC through European traders has been offered at €720/mt CFR, sources said. Offers for ex-Taiwan HRC have been estimated at around €665-670/mt CFR southern Europe.
Offers for ex-Egypt HRC have been voiced at $740/mt CFR or €680/mt CFR southern Europe this week. However, according to some sources, talk about a deal for ex-Egypt HRC signed at $710/mt CFR has been circulating in the market, but this information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
$1 = €0.92