Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) have decreased over the past week in the south of Europe due to slow trading, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday July 17.
Prices in the north of the EU have been largely stable, however, although the market was reported to be slow.Despite weak market activity, steelmakers were reported to be considering price rises for September-rolling coil products, because demand traditionally starts to recover in Europe after the summer.But buyers were unlikely to make new deals before September this year, when the price trend will be clearer.Domestic pricesFastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Southern Europe, was ?,?440-460 ($494-517) per tonne on July 17, compared with ?,?450-475 per tonne last week.Italian steelmakers have made a few deals at ?,?440-450 per tonne ex-works. The upper end of the assessment represented the...