On Monday, October 5, domestic prices for hot-rolled coils in Northern Europe declined, while in Italy, quotations continued to rise amid extremely limited supply and uncertainty about imports, Fastmarkets sources said.
In Northern Europe, one of the buyers called the acceptable level of 740 euros per ton on EXW terms. No new market changes were recorded during the day.
On Friday, October 2, one of the suppliers indicated a target of 730-740 euros per ton of EXW. Due to the lack of fresh data, this information, as well as Thursday's data, were included in the calculation of the Monday index in accordance with the Fastmarkets methodology.
Among the benchmarks that entered the market were also:
- buyer's indication for 750 euros per ton EXW;
- the bid of the second buyer is at the level of 740-750 euros per ton EXW;
- the offer is for 760 euros per ton EXW.
At the same time, demand in the region remained sluggish, and buyers reported sufficient inventory.
As a result, the Fastmarkets daily index for hot rolled steel in the domestic Nordic market was 741.88 euros per tonne on October 5, down 1.45 euros from Friday, October 2, when it was at 743.33 euros per tonne.
During the week, the index increased by 3.12 euros per ton, and during the month it decreased by 6.87 euros per ton.
In Italy, two buyers told Fastmarkets that acceptable levels were in the range of 740-750 euros per ton on EXW terms. One of them clarified that deals for about 200-500 tons had been concluded in this corridor.
Market participants noted that the supply opportunities to the Italian domestic market remain extremely limited. Acciaierie d' Italia is still out of the market, and Ferriera Valsider retains minimal potential availability only for December.
An additional pressure factor was the growing uncertainty surrounding imports after the introduction of the tariff quota for the fourth quarter on October 1. The Turkish quota was already limited, and according to one of the buyers, the volume of applications exceeded 380,000 tons with a quota of about 160,000 tons.
Because of this, some Italian buyers preferred to wait until the end of the week to assess the situation with customs clearance of imported shipments before placing new orders. Those who needed the material urgently had to focus mainly on the only active domestic manufacturer, which confidently kept prices at 740-750 euros per ton of EXW.
"If you need to buy, you pay and keep quiet," said one of the distributors.
According to the buyer, the dominant domestic manufacturer has maintained a satisfactory