Seasonal lull holds back the growth of the European HRC market, despite ArcelorMittal's plans to raise prices
The European hot rolled roll (HRC) market remained largely unchanged this week. Trading activity decreased in line with seasonal trends.
Domestic prices for HRC remained virtually unchanged, showing only a slight increase after leading producer ArcelorMittal announced its intention to raise prices by 20 euros per tonne for October delivery. At the same time, market participants reported limited spot demand, as buyers are mostly taking a wait-and-see attitude amid uncertain consumption trends and stable inventory levels. Import offers continued to grow, reflecting the strengthening of global prices, but there were few deals concluded. Most of the successful deals have been competitively priced or discounted, as buyers remain reluctant to purchase materials at a higher price in current market conditions, also citing concerns about the potential financial implications of the purchase. The mechanism for regulating carbon dioxide emissions at the EU border (CBAM).
In particular, according to sources, this week the leading European manufacturer ArcelorMittal increased its supply offers for HRC in October by about 20 euros per ton to 610 euros per ton from a plant in Northern Europe. At the same time, most local prices for HRC from Northern European plants, mainly for October delivery, are estimated at 580-590 euros per tonne from the manufacturer, compared with 580 euros per tonne from the manufacturer last week, while the market price level was set at 560-570 euros per tonne. from the manufacturer, an increase of 10 euros per ton per week compared to the previous week.
Meanwhile, in Italy, approximate offers from factories are estimated at 550-570 euros per ton from factory deliveries in September and October, as in the previous week. However, according to sources, buyers are still counting on 525-530 euros per ton of finished products, as they did last week.
At the same time, although the target price of most buyers for imported HRC remains in the range of 450-500 euros per ton of CFR, depending on the supplier, some foreign factories have increased their offers this week. According to sources, a deal was signed at the end of last week to supply about 80,000 tons of HRC from Indonesia at a price of about $550 per ton compared to Italian prices, which is about 475 euros per ton.
In addition, while the HRC offers from India were estimated at about 515 euros per ton CFR in Southern Europe, just as last week, a deal was signed for the supply of coils from India at a price of 598-600 dollars per ton CFR in Antwerp, which is about 516-518 euros.