Hollow steel Europe sections prices moved up this week, with feedstock costs rising at a fast pace due to raw materials shortages, market sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 16.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was €۵۷۰-۵۸۵ ($۶۷۷-۶۹۴) per tonne on Wednesday, up from €۵۵۰-۵۷۰ per tonne a week ago.
*** Hot-rolled coil
The price of hot-rolled coil (HRC), the feedstock for sections production, have risen sharply over the past month, due to reduced output leading to poor availability of material amid a lack of imports. Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €۴۸۲٫۶۲ per tonne on September 16, up sharply from €۴۵۶٫۳۵ per tonne on September 2, and from €۴۱۲٫۵۰ per tonne at the start of August. “[Hollow sections] prices are rising. We were told to order soon – within a day – [because] the price could go up. The mill has low stocks, but its October rolling times are too late for me,” a distributor said.
“I think there are further increases coming. [Hollow sections] prices will be going back to around €۶۰۰ per tonne, even with the import quota re-opening next month,” he added. The weekly price assessment for steel sections (medium), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was €۵۷۰ – ۶۰۰ per tonne on Wednesday, up from €۵۶۰-۵۷۰ per tonne a week earlier. The weekly price assessment for steel HRC, domestic, exw Southern Europe, was €۴۶۰-۴۸۰ per tonne on September 16, up from €۴۴۰-۴۸۰ per tonne week on week and up from €۳۹۰-۴۱۰ per tonne at the beginning of August.
In Southern Europe, particularly, hollow sections producers have been struggling to source HRC, after mills cut their output, sources told Fastmarkets. Some sources said mills were heard offering hollow sections at as much as €۶۳۰ per tonne delivered, while last week an Italian producer was heard offering sections at prices of €۶۰۰ per tonne, which was a €۲۵-per-tonne week-on-week increase.
*** Import quotas
The fact the European Union’s country-specific import quotas have mostly been used up was helping to keep prices firm in the domestic market, sources said. The current quota period expires on September 30 before being renewed, with Russia, Turkey and Belarus all having exhausted their allowances. And any exporters hoping to get tonnages allocated to the EU’s “other countries” quota, are likely to be disappointed, sources said, because the amounts waiting easily exceed the volumes available. Macedonia and Ukraine’s quotas were at 85% and 73% used on Wednesday, respectively, up from 75% and 66% on September 9.
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