Prices are rising in the European HRC market amid a lull
Business remained sluggish in the European HRC market on Friday, July 11, amid seasonally weak demand and, despite prices showing growth, there is a widespread expectation that prices will fall, sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ calculated its daily domestic hot-rolled steel coil index, pickup in Northern Europe at €546.25 ($639.87) per tonne on Friday, up just €1.77 per tonne from €544.58 per tonne on July 10.
Official offers from enterprises in the region were heard at €560-570 per ton on a free-of-charge basis, while buyers said that the level was unrealistic and estimated the feasible price at €530-550 per ton of ex-work.
He told Fastmarkets that the employee did not keep track of their stocks and was not going to replenish them significantly, given the generally low demand in the region and uncertainty about the future direction of price movement after the seasonal downturn.
The store said that the replenishment would be minimal after the summer break, which, at best, would keep prices stable.
In Italy, one of the key producers was heard targeting €540 per ton of Ex-work for HRC, while the buyer's price ideas were closer to €510-530 per ton of Ex-work, depending on tonnage, and large transactions, Fastmarkets reported on Friday.
Fastmarkets daily hot-rolled steel coil index domestic, EXW in Italy was priced at €525.83 per tonne on Friday, up from €520.42 per tonne on Thursday.
Vlada Novokreshchenova
Fastmarkets.com