Participants in the European HRC market are warning against additional price decreases in light of developments in the import market.
Although some saw the potential to close transactions for as little as EUR 575 (USD 590) per ton EXW with North European mills, the majority of tradeable value indications were between EUR 600-625 (USD 615-641) per ton EXW Ruhr and Northern Europe.
However, overall transactional activity remained low, with the majority of distributors concentrating on one-on-one deals between mills and end users, restocking particular dimensions, or forgoing purchases altogether because they anticipated a further downtrend.
According to a source at a service center, "Our consumers aren't prepared to pay greater costs, and everyone is anticipating additional decrease, which is dragging the market down." Mills are under a lot of pressure, but there seems to be a psychological barrier to prices below EUR 600 (USD 615) per ton. If this barrier is broken, I predict that we'll see a EUR 550 (USD 564) per ton shortly after.
Buyers, who frequently possess large quantities of pricey goods, expressed worry that new duty-free Indian import offers may put extra pressure on pricing. The week ending November 18 saw an increase in third-country offers to Europe, which was thought to be related to potential new European duties on imports from the Far East. However, there was concern that any upward trend in the import market would be stymied by the competitive Indian exports' re-entry.
However, a dealer located in Italy claimed that South Korean and Japanese producers rejected large volume offers in order to avoid "highlighting their goods" because they were cautious of "pushing too much."
Despite claims of excessive competition, the trader stated that in order to compete with falling domestic prices, imports would need to move to EUR 500–520 (USD 513-533) per ton CIF.
The materials and information on this article have been prepared or assembled by Viet Nam Steel and are intended for informational purposes only
