Despite persistently low local demand, Romania's sole flat steel manufacturer has maintained flat steel prices steady week on week. According to a representative of the sole producer, the reason for the limited business activities is the beginning of the summer months, with demand likely to remain low until September. Meanwhile, Romanian flat steel traders have faced a hard demand scenario, but they have maintained their pricing, offering discounts to serious purchasers.
Over the past week, the Romanian producer has continued to maintain hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) prices at €615-620/mt ex-works and €715-720/mt ex-works respectively. Similarly, the mill's domestic pricing for HDG and PPGI is stable week on week at €785-790/mt ex-works and €1,065-1,070/mt ex-works, respectively.
Romanian traders, on the other hand, have kept prices unchanged week on week as there has been no significant interest on the demand side.
“It is an extremely difficult period in the spot market because, although we have enough stock, demand is very limited,” a Romanian trader told SteelOrbis.
As a result, hot rolled sheet (HRS) and cold rolled sheet (CRS) prices are stable at €740-765/mt ex-warehouse and €860-900/mt ex-warehouse, respectively.
Meanwhile, Romanian traders have not demonstrated interest in imports this week since the outlook is bleak and supplies are plenty. However, offers from Turkey have risen by €15-25/mt, with FOB prices of $600-615/mt and freight costs of around €25/mt, arriving in Romania at roughly €585-600/mt CFR. Furthermore, Ukraine offers HRC at €585/mt DAP, the same as last week, while offers for HRS and CRS are €650/mt DAP and €735-740/mt DAP, respectively.