This week, prices for cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized (HDG) from European mills have remained relatively stable, though market insiders have continued to report lower tradable price levels as local mills have been failing to attract buyers given the weak demand from end-users. Meanwhile, most import CRC and HDG offers have remained relatively unchanged over the past week, though with a slight downward bias seen in CRC prices.
Specifically, in the domestic CRC market in the EU, most producers are offering at €660-670/mt ex-works, both in Italy and northern Europe. However, according to sources, while mills have been targeting higher offers for January deliveries, customers have kept insisting on discounts. Thus, the tradable price level in northern Europe has been estimated at €655-660/mt ex-works, up by €5/mt on the lower end of the range over the past two weeks, while tradable prices in southern Europe have settled at €650-655/mt ex-works.
Meanwhile, import prices for CRC in southern Europe have been voiced at €645-650/mt CFR, down by €10/mt over the past two weeks, mostly for ex-Asia materials. In particular, offers for ex-Japan CRC have been heard at €645/mt CFR southern Europe. Besides, offers for ex-South Korea CRC have been reported at around €545/mt CFR, versus €650-655/mt CFR. Offers for ex-India HRC have settled at €645-650/mt CFR, down by €10/mt on the higher end of the range over the past two weeks, according to sources. Offers from Turkey have been voiced at €670/mt CFR, against €675/mt two weeks ago.
In the meantime, local prices for HDG have been estimated at €670-690/mt ex-works from mills in southern and northern Europe, though the tradable prices have been voiced at around €670/mt ex-works in Italy and at €675-680/mt ex-works in the north, up by €5/mt over the past two weeks. At the same time, according to sources, mills have been targeting €700/mt ex-works and above for delivery in January, though most buyers are unlikely to accept this level for the moment.
At the same time, most import offers for HDG have settled at €725-750/mt CFR southern Europe, with offers for ex-Vietnam Z100 HDG coming at €725/mt CFR, while offers for Z140 HDG have been voiced at €750/mt CFR. Offers from Taiwan have been reported at €740/mt CFR for Z100 HDG, and at around €750/mt CFR for 2 mm Z150. Offers for imported HDG from India have been estimated at €735/mt CFR, according to sources.