Although some sources still do not exclude a further hike to be seen in the EU HRC market in the short run, this week trading activity in the European HRC market has remained moderate, with only a slight pick-up in restocking for small volumes. Besides, while offers from mills have been kept stable in northern Europe, some upward bias is still seen in Italy, though both in the north and in Italy the workable HRC prices have remained lower than the mills’ official targets. In the import segment, most foreign suppliers have kept their offers to the EU unchanged, with several fresh deals reported in southern Europe.
In the local EU market, official offers from steel mills have settled at €640-660/mt ex-works in northern Europe and at around €660/mt ex-works in Italy. This means prices in the north have remained at mainly the same levels as compared to last week, while offer prices in Italy have increased by €10/mt on the lower end of the range week on week.
Meanwhile, the tradable values have remained at €630-640/mt ex-works in northern Europe, the same as last week, while workable prices in Italy have been fixed in a number of deals at around €650/mt delivered, which translates to around €640/mt ex-works, or up by €10/mt week on week.
“Restocking activity has improved to some extent in Europe this week, though most buyers are still cautious and prefer to book small volumes to avoid high levels of stocks as demand remains an issue,” a market insider said.
In the import segment, ex-Asia HRC offers have been voiced at €600-620/mt CFR Italy and at €600-630/mt CFR Spain, mainly the same as last week. According to sources, several deals for 15,000 mt and 10,000 mt of ex-Japan HRC from two different mills have been reported at €615-630/mt CFR Spain this week. Meanwhile, offers for ex-India HRC have been heard at around €600-610/mt CFR, while indicative offers for ex-South Korea and ex-Taiwan HRC have been estimated at €610-620/mt CFR. Offers for ex-Vietnam HRC have settled at around €600/mt CFR for July shipment.
Apart from Asian suppliers, more deals for at least 30,000 mt have been reported this week for ex-Turkey HRC in Spain at around €610-620/mt CFR including duty, though market insiders have also reported another deal for ex-Turkey HRC at €610/mt CFR, for delivery in July, excluding duty, which translates to around €642/mt CFR.
Furthermore, a supplier from Saudi Arabia has been offering its HRC at around €600/mt CFR southern Europe, though, according to sources, “it has to be a position that somebody wishes to get rid of quickly.”