European hot-rolled coil producers are pushing for higher prices despite weak demand from end users. Companies across the supply chain are caught between rising procurement costs and customers’ reluctance to accept price increases.
Suppliers attribute the price increases to lower imports due to protectionist measures, including safeguard quotas and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), as well as rising energy and transportation costs.
In Italy, supply tightened further after an order was issued on October 29 to halt hot-rolling operations at the Acciaieria d’Italia steelworks in Taranto, formerly known as Ilva. Under these conditions, European mills have been able to push more actively for higher prices.
A leading Italian producer was offering coil at €760–780 per tonne ex-works: the lower end applied to December deliveries and the upper end to January. Market participants said December volumes were very limited and reserved for regular customers, while mills focused on January orders.
Buyers put the transaction level for this producer’s January coil at €770–780 per tonne ex-works. Another Italian supplier, a coil processor, had not yet issued January offers but was theoretically targeting €760 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets’ domestic Italian hot-rolled coil index, ex-works, was €772.71 per tonne on November 12, down €0.04 from November 11. The index rose by €27.21 over the week and by €31.71 over the month.
The Northern European index rose to €770.83 per tonne on November 12, up €6.45 on the day. It gained €11.25 over the week and €29.16 over the month.
In Northern Europe, a seller put the transaction level for most January volumes at €770–780 per tonne ex-works. One buyer quoted a price of €800 per tonne delivered, or €780–785 per tonne ex-works, and said that anyone buying now would have to pay that much.
Another buyer estimated a possible transaction level at €770–780 per tonne delivered, or €750–765 per tonne ex-works. The buyer said it was difficult to pass on the increase to end users because of weak demand and their expectations that business activity would deteriorate in 2027.
Market participants in Central Europe also reported limited coil availability, with at least two regular suppliers temporarily absent from the market. A Polish buyer described the situation as difficult and added that replacing volumes previously supplied by Ukraine’s Metinvest was challenging because other producers had limited supply.
Metinvest halted export shipments after Russian attacks on the company’s Ukrainian assets in the summer and autumn. The market’s largest supplier was offering hot-rolled coil at €820 per tonne CPT, equivalent to €805 per tonne ex-works. According to market participants, a German producer was offering Polish buyers material at roughly the same CPT price.
Buyers considered this level unacceptable, with deals concluded at €750–770 per tonne ex-works. Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for the Central European domestic market on November 12 was €735–755 per tonne ex-works, compared with €745–760 on November 4, in line with market participants’ estimates of possible transaction prices.
Import trade, by contrast, has quietened. Turkish suppliers were largely absent from the market during the week; one participant reported offers at €600–605 per tonne CFR, €10–15 above the level previously reported.
Some participants suggested that Turkish producers could raise export prices following an explosion at the Habaş plant, which led to increased demand for imports in Turkey. However, the scope for significant price increases may be limited by the rapid exhaustion of Turkish producers’ import quotas, duties on shipments exceeding quotas, CBAM-related costs and anti-dumping measures.
Indian suppliers were also largely absent from the market this week because of the Diwali holiday. At the start of the week, market participants reported offers at $720–740 (€645–650) per tonne CFR, $10–20 below the previous week.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for imported hot-rolled coil delivered to major Southern European ports on a CFR basis was €600–650 per tonne on November 11, compared with €595–670 on November 4.
Offers from Taiwan and Japan to buyers in Southern Europe were €780–790 per tonne DDP. South Korean material was reportedly available at up to €810 per tonne DDP. One source reported deals at €800 per tonne DDP but did not specify the material’s country of origin.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for imported hot-rolled coil delivered DDP to Southern Europe was €780–800 per tonne on November 11, compared with €750–765 on November 4.
