Leading European steel producer ArcelorMittal has raised prices for hot-rolled coils across Europe by another 30 euros ($35) per tonne for delivery in April, further increasing prices for cold-rolled coils and hot-dip galvanized coils, Fastmarkets reported on Tuesday, January 20.
Several industry sources familiar with the situation confirmed to Fastmarkets that ArcelorMittal has announced a price increase of 30 euros per tonne for delivery in April, as well as new offers at 700 euros per base tonne compared to 670 euros per base tonne for delivery in March.
ArcelorMittal has also announced new offers for the supply of rolled steel sheets — cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanized.
Notably, as reported, the supplier's HDG supply offers in April were 820 euros per base tonne, compared with 780 euros per base tonne delivered in March.
And with regard to CRC, even higher offers were reported — at 830 euros per ton for delivery in April.
.The CRC market in Europe has traditionally been dominated by imports, especially in the trademark segment, but recent legislative changes, in particular the anti—dumping investigation, have targeted CRCs produced in India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam, and cover about 65% of the total CRC volume in the EU. imports are limited import parameters. On top of that, the introduction of the Carbon Dioxide Emissions Control Mechanism (CBAM) on January 1 has also limited new imports.
ArcelorMittal's new offers have not yet been announced, but market sources noted that the mood in the European flat-rolled market is becoming more optimistic.
However, the sources noted that the recent price increase in the European flat-rolled market was caused solely by changes in trading rules, in particular, CBAM and the new trading regime, while real demand remained sluggish.
"This increase is not driven by demand. Yes, prices for flat rolled products are rising, although this is largely driven by concerns about CBAM-related costs and potential new precautions, rather than underlying demand," said a buyer in the Benelux region.
The Italian buyer said that only a limited number of companies are financially prepared to work with CBAM, which has led to a sharp slowdown in import activity. As a result, dependence on domestic steel is expected to increase significantly this year as imports become increasingly difficult to manage.
In January, European HRC prices continued to rise slowly, with buyer sources pointing to growing dependence on European factories, while new imports became "uncontrollable."
Daily hot-rolled steel price index
