The positive sentiment on the domestic hot-rolled roll market in Europe, which was already volatile, weakened somewhat on Monday, November 3, as several import orders became known.
Previously, market participants expected import activity to decrease to a minimum in late 2025 and early 2026 due to the uncertainty caused by the introduction of the Carbon Boundary Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as some important details are still missing from the policy, as well as due to news of radical changes in the policy of import regulations, which they will replace the current ones. protective measures.
Local factories immediately reacted by raising prices as soon as the European Commission in early October announced a proposal for a radical reform of its guarantees on steel imports.
Nevertheless, buyers were in no hurry to agree to the price increases offered by the factories, as the average selling prices in October were close to the September average.
The daily price index for Fastmarkets hot-rolled steel for domestic sale, exw in Northern Europe averaged 589.40 euros per ton in October, which is 10.47 euros more than in September, when the average price was 578.93 euros.
And the corresponding daily Fastmarkets hot-rolled steel roll price index in the domestic market, exw in Italy reacted more sharply to the above factors, averaging 572.89 euros per ton in October against 549.41 euros per ton in September.
This happened because the Italian market has traditionally been more dependent on imports.
In October, manufacturers from both Northern Europe and Italy practically closed their portfolios of HRC orders, which are scheduled for delivery in December, and are gradually opening their portfolios for January.
However, both sellers and buyers informed Fastmarkets that trading had been suspended and buyers preferred to dispose of their inventory by the end of the year. January delivery orders are expected to start in a week or two.
In previous weeks, it was reported that only minor shipments scheduled for delivery in January were sold, however, they were still far from the plant's targets.
In Northern Europe, some orders were placed at a price of 610-620 euros per tonne from the factory, compared with mill targets of 620-650 euros per tonne from the factory.
But as increased import orders have been discussed in recent weeks, bullish sentiment has begun to weaken.
At least three sources, both buyers and sellers, told Fastmarkets on Monday that it would be difficult for local factories to increase sales of rolls for January delivery in Northern Europe above 610 euros.
