Although European flat steel producers have been aiming to raise their prices, these attempts have failed so far both for cold rolled coil (CRC) and hot dip galvanized coils (HDG), amid the still far from positive mood in the HRC segment, extremely slow demand from end-users and almost zero import trade activity.
More specifically, in the domestic CRC market in the EU, producers are offering at €700-710/mt ex-works, down by €10-20/mt since the before the summer break in August, while the tradable prices have dropped to €690-700/mt ex-works, down by €10/mt, both in southern and northern Europe.
In the meantime, offers for imported CRC have declined slightly as well, standing at €640-660/mt CFR, down by €5-10/mt week on week. Offers for ex-India CRC are at the lowest level among offers from all foreign suppliers, at $705/mt CFR or €640/mt CFR, down by €10/mt over the past week, while suppliers from Japan and South Korea have been offering their materials at €645/mt CFR and €650/mt CFR, respectively, down by €5/mt week on week. Offers for ex-Turkey CRC have been voiced at around €655/mt CFR, down by €5/mt week on week.
Meanwhile, local prices for HDG have been estimated at €720-730/mt ex-works from mills in southern and northern Europe, down by €20/mt on the higher end of the range since last month, though the tradable prices have been voiced at €710-720/mt ex-works, down by €10-20/mt since mid-August.
At the same time, most import offers for HDG mainly for Z120-Z140 have settled at €720-745/mt CFR, down by €5-10/mt over the past week. The lower end of the range corresponds to the most competitive offers coming from Vietnam for Z120 at $795/mt CFR, which translates to around €720/mt CFR. Besides, offers from India have been voiced at $805/mt CFR or around €730/mt CFR, while indicative offers for ex-Turkey HDG have been estimated at around €740-745/mt CFR.
$1 = €0.91