Transaction prices for domestic hot-rolled coil in Europe are expected to move up in the next couple of weeks on a seasonal recovery of trading activity, market sources say.
But any price increase will likely be short-lived due to weak demand among end users. Such a scenario would have a negative impact on distributors caught between mills looking to raise prices and end users resisting such efforts, market sources added.Last week, ArcelorMittal raised its HRC offers to ?,?510 ($565) per tonne exw in Germany and to ?,?490 per tonne delivered for northern Italy.A German mill also increased its HRC offers to ?,?500 per tonne ex-works after ArcelorMittal's announcement. Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Northern Europe was at ?,?465-480 per tonne on Wednesday August 28, unchanged...