EUROPE BEAMS: Margins squeezed by weak market, rising feedstock costs

The price for steel H-beams in Southern Europe inched downward on Wednesday May 27 with producers unable to maintain their previous offer prices despite rising feedstock costs in the region, sources told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel beams, domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was ?,?530-550 ($581-602) per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged week on week.
"It's still not busy. Demand is down by 9% compared with May last year, but flat products [demand is] down by 25-35%," a trader said.
"People are pessimistic. Margins are bad [and] we are booking tonnages but competition is tough. Mills are earning less [and] there's a high price for scrap. Stocks are too high, [so] it makes no sense to produce more and pay for more scrap," he added.

"We are lowering our stock levels. The company is looking at which products are making money, [and] I am waiting longer before I order material [even though]...

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