Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Europe have decreased over the past week due to poor demand, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 10.
Buying activity has continued, however, but subject to limited demand from end-users and sufficient stocks held by buyers."Market activity is almost non-existent, and the situation is not going to change because in August the mills will go on maintenance [outages] and trading is [already] close to zero," a European trader said."There is no real hope for a recovery in demand until September, but there are more uncertainties in the market related to the upcoming [European Union] safeguard case review and [concern over] emissions... at the Italian plant [formerly known as] Ilva [but now trading as ArcelorMittal Italia]," he added.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel hot-rolled coil, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was ?,?475-490 ($532-549) per tonne on July 10, compared with ?,?480-495 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.This reflected the small number of transactions and the "workable" prices heard in the market, while official offers have been heard at ?,?490-505...