Hot rolled roll (HRC) prices in Northern Europe and Italy remained stable on Friday. Market participants attributed this to slow business activity and limited demand.
In Northern Europe, the market looked generally flat, and no significant transactions were reported on September 25.
One of the buyers reported that the offers were in the range of €760-790 per ton on a free-of-charge basis. However, he noted that manufacturers have yet to achieve such levels in real transactions, so these values were not taken into account in the daily index.
Another buyer indicated a benchmark at the level of €720-730 per tonne free-of-charge and noted that it had not changed compared to the previous week. However, this level was also excluded from the calculation due to the lack of fresh confirmation on the market.
No new price targets could be collected on Friday. Therefore, the values taken into account the day before were transferred to the daily index, in accordance with the Fastmarkets methodology.
On Thursday, two buyers called the operating levels in the range of €740-750 per tonne free of charge. Another source reported higher offers at the level of 750-760 euros per ton from the franco-plant for delivery in October–November.
The benchmark from sellers on Thursday remained at Wednesday's level, when the supplier reported achievable prices in the range of €730-740 per tonne ex-factory, based on how much German service centers were willing to pay for limited restocking.
As a result, Fastmarkets' daily index of hot-rolled coils in the domestic market of Northern Europe amounted to €741.67 per ton free of charge on September 25. The indicator has not changed compared to September 24.
The index rose by €4.17 per tonne during the week and by €15.42 per tonne during the month.
There were also no new deals in Italy as demand remained weak.
The latest data on working levels, received on Thursday, September 24, were in the range of €730-745 per ton on ex-works terms.
As a result, the Fastmarkets daily index for hot-rolled coils in the Italian domestic market amounted to €737.50 per ton of ex-works on September 24 and also did not change during the day.
During the week, the index added €6.75 per ton, and during the month — €18.75 per ton.