Last week, Romanian flats steel manufacturer Liberty Steel announced that operations at a blast furnace (BF) at its Galati facility will be suspended until January owing to maintenance works and improvements. SteelOrbis has learned that the decision also was influenced by unfavorable market conditions.
“Customers have realized that the bottom has been reached, and some are attempting to place purchases in order to take advantage of the lower prices. There is some optimism in the market from players, but end-user demand, particularly in construction, is low, which is understandable given that interest rates remain high, uncertainty persists, and the war on our border shows no indications of abating anytime soon,” a representative of the sole domestic producer said to SteelOrbis.
Despite the decision to shut down the blast furnace, the producer in question continues to offer material since they still have stock on hand. Currently, the domestic producer has chosen to increase hot roll coil pricing by €20/mt to €650/mt ex-works from last week, while the price of cold rolled coil which was formerly €780/mt ex-works has dropped to €775/mt ex-works.
Additionally, the mill’s domestic market pricing for HDG and PPGI in the category of coated steel has dropped from previous weeks by €20/mt and €30-80/mt to €850/mt ex-works and €1,120/mt ex-works, respectively.
On the other hand, traders’ prices for hot rolled sheets have increased to €735-800/mt ex-warehouse, up from €705-795/mt ex-warehouse last week. Meanwhile, the feasible price for cold rolled sheets has decreased by €5-40/mt to €970-1,000/mt ex-warehouse.
In the import segment, according to sources, ex-Bulgaria hot rolled sheets and cold rolled sheets are offered at €710/mt and €910/mt delivered to Romania, respectively.