European hot-rolled coil prices were largely unchanged in a quiet market on Friday October 25, with stability arising from the bullish higher offers from some mills, despite no deals being confirmed at the higher rates, sources told Fastmarkets.
End-user demand for coil has been limited across Europe this week, hampering mill attempts to push for price rises, they added.
“Nobody is buying [coil] for stock,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets. “On the contrary, there is competition downstream between steel service centers to get rid of the material, so [HRC] prices reman under pressure,” a buyer source said.
Mills in Northern Europe were heard offering HRC at €580-600 per tonne ex-works for the first quarter 2025, but for November-December lead times, prices were still around €550-570 per tonne ex-works, sources said.
Buyers estimated the tradable level at €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe at €550.00 per tonne on Friday, up by only €0.62 per tonne from €549.38 per tonne the previous day.
The index was down by €3.13 per tonne week on week but up by €0.12 per tonne month on month.
On October 25, the European Commission started registering HRC imports from Vietnam, Japan, India and Egypt, thus paving the way for the potential retroactive application of anti-dumping duties.
And, along with existing safeguard measures, this latest move will significantly limit interest in importing HRC to Europe, sources said.
The reduction in the volume of imports to the EU should start to become apparent in the first quarter of 2025, they added, which could support a rebound in domestic HRC prices.
And if European suppliers proceed with production cuts in November-December, HRC supplies could be further limited, making a price rebound in January-February more likely, sources said.
“European mills have produced enough [crude steel] to claim their carbon credits for the next year, so it is very likely that they will curb their output at the end of the fourth quarter in 2024,” a trader source told Fastmarkets.
No official announcements about cuts have been mad so far, however.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy at €546.25 per tonne on Friday, unchanged day on day.
The Italian index was down by €5.00 per tonne week on week, but up by €1.87 per tonne month on month.
Trading in Italy was also quiet, sources said, with suppliers so far unable to secure higher offer prices in transactions.
Local mills were offering December/January-delivery HRC at €570-580 per tonne delivered (€560-570 per tonne ex-works), Fastmarkets understands.
But buyers estimated the tradable level in Southern Europe at just €540-560 per tonne delivered (€530-550 per tonne ex-works).
“We did not negotiate December delivery HRC [purchases] yet, but we hope to get a 10-20 per tonne discount on the offer price,” a buyer in Italy said.
Market participants said that November lead times were still available from some suppliers.
Import prices, meanwhile, remain uncompetitive and no fresh business was completed in the week to Friday, sources told Fastmarkets.
In Italy, November-shipment HRC from Turkey was on offer at €580-590 per tonne CFR to Italy, including anti-dumping duty, while Asian material was on offer at €550-570 per tonne CFR.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
Vina One Steel
