Daily prices for local hot-rolled steel coils As market sources told Fastmarkets, on Friday, July 24, prices for hot-rolled steel coils decreased in both Northern Europe and Italy due to low demand and the summer vacation period, which negatively affected market activity. In Northern Europe, the buyer indicated reasonable prices for HRC at 700-710 euros (796-808 dollars) per ton from the factory on Friday, saying that the market remains very slow with "extremely weak" demand.
"In addition, due to the summer holidays, some companies are closing to save money for workers," the buyer said, adding that although manufacturers have tried to raise prices, so far they have failed, consumers continue to negotiate lower prices.
A supplier source said that the offers were at the level of 740-750 euros per ton from the plant, but added that these levels are not yet feasible on the market. The same source said that the latest terms of the deal at 710 euros per ton are no longer available from the manufacturer.
Due to the lack of fresh data on Friday, the price figures collected on Thursday, July 23, were moved to the index on July 24.
On Thursday, a buyer's source reported achievable levels of 700-710 euros per tonne from the factory and a deal at 710 euros per tonne from the factory.
The daily price index for Fastmarkets hot-rolled steel in the domestic market, exw in Northern Europe, calculated on July 24, amounted to 706.67 euros per ton, which is 3.55 euros lower than 710.22 euros per ton on July 23.
The indicator decreased by 3.33 euros per ton week-on-week, but increased by 22.50 euros per ton on a monthly basis.
Meanwhile, the Italian HRC market was also quiet on Friday, with market participants continuing to point to low demand and limited trading activity ahead of the summer holiday period.
One of the sources said that earlier this week, the company had purchased a very small volume of granular crushed stone, about one truck, at a price of 680 euros per ton from the factory. The deal was not included in the July 24 index because it did not cover the evaluation period.
The same buyer indicated an acceptable level of 700 euros per tonne delivered (685 euros per tonne from the factory) and said that producers are currently practically absent from the market. According to a market participant, it was expected that many factories would suspend operations and supplies from August 1 to August 17 during the summer holidays.
" Every factory strives for maximum utilization, but when demand is low, they don't have it. Italian factories have left the market because they cannot sell their capacities," the buyer said.
Meanwhile, one of the manufacturers stated that the achievable prices for a standard commercial grade HRC do not exceed 720-730 euros per supplied
