Most European steelmakers have increased their hot-rolled coil prices by ?,?20 ($23) per tonne this week, sources told Metal Bulletin on Wednesday June 27.
The rises are expected to be supported by the impact of the preliminary findings in a European Commission safeguarding case, along with a lack of competitive import offers, according to market sources.The EC opened an investigation into 26 steel products in late March, in an attempt to prevent steel shipments being redirected to the EU market as a result of the United States Section 232 import tariffs. Imported HRC is among the products included into the trade case.The European authorities are expected to impose preliminary safeguarding measures on steel imports in early July."Mills are trying to use expected announcement of [preliminary] safeguard measures to achieve price rises, or at least stabilize the prices during the summer," a Northern European trader said.Domestic prices for coil in Europe traditionally decline during summer due to the seasonal...