EU HRC prices rised

On July 12, domestic hot rolled coil prices in Europe rose as buyers began to replenish stocks and mills cut production.

Platts evaluated HRC in Northern Europe at Ruhr 855/mt ex-works on July 12, up Eur5 daily, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

A producer reported that deals were concluded between German mills and buyers at Eur850/mt ex-works Ruhr, and HRC was traded at the equivalent of Eur850-860/mt ex-works from another North European steelmaker. Another source reported deals equivalent to 855/mt ex-works.

The tradable value is reported at Eur850-860/mt ex-works Ruhr/Northern Europe.

It is reported that a steelmaker has increased its HRC offers to Eur 890-900/mt ex-works in Northern Europe, while market sources expect other mills to follow suit.

“The market appears to have reached the lowest price that buyers understand will not buy lower,” another source said. “If prices fell further, factories would be in trouble because of the high costs.”

Some European steelmakers, including HBIS Serbia, Acciaierie d'Italia and ArcelorMittal Dunkirk in France, planned to shut down the blast furnace in July-August to balance supply and demand. Italian electric arc furnace-based manufacturer Arvedi also planned to shut down its Cremona plant completely for August. ArcelorMittal Bremen in Germany started the short-term study.

In Southern Europe, HRC was valued at 775/mt ex-factory in Italy on July 12, up 5 euros per day.

Official offers have been reported at Euro 800/mt ex-Italy, while achievable prices have been assessed by market sources as EUR 750-800/mt ex-Italy. A source reported that he has quoted HRC at 750 Euro/mt ex-works, but this information has not been widely confirmed.

Sources said that unlike distributors in Germany, Italian buyers plan to wait until late August-early September to restock, following the traditional market cycle.