The EU apartment market is cautious at the Made in Steel exhibition amid growing volatility
Uncertainty was the main theme of this year's Made in Steel exhibition in Milan, Italy, as the European rolled steel market faced weak demand, unstable trade dynamics and increasing regulatory difficulties.
When representatives of the steel industry gathered in Milan on May 6-8 for a trade show, market participants shared mostly pessimistic forecasts regarding the dynamics of prices for flat rolled products and expectations that demand would remain weak in the short term.
Despite the recent upward trend in the supply of mills across Europe, many participants noted that regulatory uncertainty and a lack of specific activities were holding back price increases.
"The fair has been rather restrained so far. The mood is generally negative," said a source at the southern European plant. "There is a lot of uncertainty — quotas, tariffs, the situation with the United States — all this complicates the situation."
But some sources have noted more positive signs.
The German shareholder expressed optimism that a cease-fire in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and increased infrastructure spending under the new German government could help boost demand. "We hope that this will improve sentiment in the second half of the year," the shareholder said.
Imports are under pressure
Although European import quotas were distributed differently for hot-rolled coils, cold-rolled coils, and hot-dip galvanized steel, sources present at the exhibition expressed mixed opinions about the acceptability of prices and the susceptibility of buyers to different sources of origin.
Numerous sources reported an influx of Indonesian coils, and offers of 570 euros per ton from Italy were heard during the fair. The question of whether the material is suitable for a wider market or more suitable for pipeline applications remained a key topic of discussion.
Discussing the expediency of imports in general and reducing the use of quotas, one of the traders mentioned an atmosphere of distrust. The uncertainty, partly caused by the indecision of buyers in the first quarter during the review of precautionary measures by the European Commission, is still being felt. Similarly, looking ahead, he said, "Buyers ordering imported materials from Asia are trying to delay the purchase for several weeks to see how things are going with domestic prices and end users."
"But any material ordered now will only arrive at the end of the summer; no one has a clear idea of the demand for such goods, and they don't want to