Prices for European steel HRC in Europe remained virtually unchanged amid a seasonal slowdown in trade
On Wednesday, July 30, the European hot-rolled steel market experienced a decline due to the seasonal lull in trading. Factories were turning away from cheaper steel, while buyers were not yet ready to accept more favorable offers, trade sources told Fastmarkets.
According to Fastmarkets calculations, the daily HRC index for domestic steel, exw in Northern Europe, stood at 558.75 euros ($590.99) per ton on Wednesday, up 0.42 euros from last month. the tonne compared to 558.33 euros per tonne on Tuesday.
The Northern European index rose by 3.75 euros per tonne week-on-week and by 1.08 euros per tonne month-on-month.
"The market is in a state of complete standstill. Trade is frozen, and nothing will change in the next three weeks because it's the holiday season," said a German buyer.
There were reported offers for delivery in October at a price of 590 euros per ton from the factory or from integrated suppliers in Germany and the Benelux countries.
According to industry sources, the factories were comfortably booked and therefore began to raise prices for their offers. However, no deals at the new prices have been reported yet.
Buyers still estimated the market at 550-560 euros per ton from the factory. A customer source suggested that the price of 570 euros per ton from the factory may be acceptable for small shipments. However, there was practically no trading in the region.
"We have a big gap between offers and tenders. Of course, all the factories want to raise prices, but we don't have any support from consumers, and[the inventories]are still quite loaded," the steel Production Service Center (SSC) in Germany said.
The same sources suggested that the impact on the results of the implementation of the EU Carbon Boundary Regulation Mechanism (CBAM) on the roll market will begin to manifest itself only in the first quarter of 2026, "if not later."
"We have a lot of imported coils in ports and pipelines," said an SSC source. "There will be no noticeable shortage of HRCs this year."
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets' daily hot-rolled steel roll price index for domestic consumption (exw, Italy) stood at 527.50 euros per tonne on Wednesday, down just 0.63 euros per tonne from 528.13 euros per tonne. tons on Tuesday.
The index rose by 0.62 euros per tonne week-on-week, but decreased by 7.50 euros per tonne month-on-month.
Italian suppliers were hoping for 550 euros per ton for September-October delivery, while buyers’ estimated prices did not exceed 520-530 euros per ton from the factory.
European suppliers have increased their offers for the October delivery of HRC to 580 euros per tonne shipped to Italy, but this has not yet been achieved in the framework of the deals.
"The[for HRC]market in Italy