Roll buyers in Germany, Benelux and neighboring countries expressed little surprise at ArcelorMittal's recent announcement to raise prices for hot-rolled rolls to 700 euros per ton ($821) at the manufacturing plant.
Mills companies started the year with a restrained attitude, says one customer from Southern Germany. "Out of the five companies, two were still making offers, the rest did not appear on the market," he tells Kallanish. Therefore, he expected that new prices would be announced soon and the market leader would make the first move.
"They require 700 euros, so another factory will offer you a better price of 680 euros," said a buyer from Southern Germany. A realistic price on the market could be 660 euros, "which would also be an achievement," he said. This corresponds to the orders he placed last week at the factory, which had little capacity left in mid-March. Despite the lengthy transportation, he made a deal worth 660 euros.
After that, the plant informed him about the 20 euro increase this week, even before ArcelorMittal's announcement.
According to another observer, only limited capacities will operate at the plants until the end of March, and prices for them will be 650 euros per ton from the plant.
"It won't last long, and then they'll probably ask for 670 euros," he says. He expects that these prices were already the target for the plants when HRC was selling at 630 euros per ton.
The Dutch manager noticed that prices in the Netherlands had increased only slightly last week, and expected them to rise to 700 euros or higher in the second quarter.
But he, like most players, is confident that "buyers remain cautious and there is no obvious desire to buy." Arguments in favor of import policy measures and production costs contradict the recovery in demand, which, in his opinion, is barely noticeable in practice.
Author: Christian Kel Germany
Kallanish.com
