Prices for hot-rolled steel products in Europe remained virtually unchanged on Monday, November 17, with supply unchanged, while buyers warned that the recent rebound could be fragile due to a lack of support from real demand, Fastmarkets reported.
In general, offers for the supply of HRC from January to February from integrated plants in the region ranged from 620 to 650 euros (719-753 dollars) per ton from the plant, although reasonable prices were usually lower due to limited trade volumes, market sources said.
Market participants added that some factories are currently mostly occupied until January or even February, which will allow them to maintain higher supply prices.
In Northern Europe, domestic HRC prices were estimated by buyers in the range of 600-620 euros per tonne from the factory, with some HRC orders for January delivery in the Benelux and Germany estimated at 605-615 euros per tonne.
Purchases remained slow, and many buyers delayed making new commitments due to the large influx of imported shipments expected to arrive in December and January.
"Some European factories still have stocks for December, but many buyers are simply postponing decision-making to January due to imports and unclear policies," said a buyer from the Benelux countries.
Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled steel roll price index for domestic consumption in Northern Europe (exw) was 612.50 euros per tonne on Monday, down just 0.42 euros per tonne from 612.92 euros per tonne on November 14.
The indicator increased by 2.50 euros per ton week-on-week and by 21.25 euros per ton month-on-month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled steel roll price index for domestic consumption (exw, Italy) was 600.00 euros per tonne on Monday, down 1.25 euros per tonne from 601.25 euros per tonne on Friday.
Nevertheless, the indicator increased by 3.75 euros per ton week-on-week and by 20.00 euros per ton month-on-month.
Official offers from local suppliers for the supply of HRC in January amounted to about 620 euros per ton from the plant, but reasonable prices for January were closer to 600-610 euros per ton from the plant, market sources said.
Some shipments with limited supply in December were still available at a price of 580-600 euros per ton from the factory, depending on the volume. It was reported that factories and processing enterprises are selling December tonnage at about 590-595 euros per ton, while the price for delivery in 2026 is still 620 euros per ton.
Market participants noted that activity in Italy remains very limited, and distributors and end users are still focused on eliminating inventory until the end.
