European producers of hot-rolled coil were expected to raise their domestic offer prices and were likely to achieve better trading prices because of production cuts and the lack of competitive import offers, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday November 12.
"I think [the days of] cheap offers are now gone and mills will increase their offers soon," a German source said.The steelmakers, however, preferred to take their time before announcing new prices. With distributors beginning to show more interest in placing new orders and becoming keener to replenish their stocks, a pause in trading will allow the steelmaking plants to achieve higher prices, market participants said.The majority of sources estimated the "workable" price for domestic HRC in Northern Europe at ?,?420-425 ($463-469) per tonne ex-works. Some also believed that mills would be able to...