On Monday, February 16, the mood in the domestic hot-rolled steel market in Europe was optimistic amid news that the market leader was insisting on higher prices, Fastmarkets reported.
Earlier in the day, several market sources reported that ArcelorMittal had raised the offer price for hot-rolled coils to 750 euros per tonne for delivery to Northern Europe in May, compared with a price of 700 euros per tonne for delivery in April.
At the time of publication of this report, this information has not been officially confirmed by the company. Only a few market sources believed that the company would officially announce this price increase in the next few days, and large order volumes were cited as one of the key reasons for the optimistic mood.
One source said that the supplier sells some shipments at a price of 700 euros per tonne delivered, which is equivalent to 685 euros per tonne from the factory.
"They want to overcome the threshold of 700 euros per ton," said another buyer.
It was stated that estimates of real prices at other integrated plants in the region still vary between 650-660 euros per tonne per plant, with an offer from a processing plant in the Benelux region of 650 euros per tonne per plant, with bidding reportedly muted.
The daily price index for Fastmarkets hot-rolled steel for domestic consumption in Northern Europe was 660.00 euros ($782.34) per ton on February 16, which is 4.17 euros higher than 655.83 euros per ton on February 13.
The indicator increased by 6.67 euros per ton week-on-week and by 19.50 euros per ton month-on-month.
In Italy, the acceptable price range was very wide, depending on tonnage, and amounted to 630-660 euros per ton, excluding VAT.
It was reported that small batches were sold at a price of 650-660 euros per ton from the factory, while large batches, which are currently an exception, changed hands at a price of 630-640 euros per ton from the factory.
Calculated on February 16, the daily HRC index for Fastmarkets steel, for domestic consumption, exw in Italy, was 651.60 euros per ton, which is 4.10 euros higher than 647.50 euros per ton on Friday.
The indicator increased by 6.60 euros per ton week-on-week and by 20.35 euros per ton on a monthly basis.
Author: Vlada Novokreschenova
Fastmarkets.com
