Italian CRC, HDG demand quietens

Italian cold rolled and hot-dipped galvanised coil market activity has died out due to continued demand weakness and economic uncertainty.

Producers remain confident however after strong first-quarter sales at high prices. Some also reported a relatively good month in April despite the slower demand compared to previous months, Kallanish notes.

With domestic buyers seemingly on the fence, prices for May contracts are unclear as no transactions are happening so far this month. In line with hot rolled coil values, HDG and CRC prices seem to be on a downward trend. No high-volume sales are expected until after the Made in Steel tradeshow in Milan this week.

In Italy, the latest transactions at the end of April indicate HDG and CRC levels at €920-950/tonne ($1,008-1,041) base delivered, depending on producer, down from the peaks of €970-990/t seen at the beginning of April.

Producers are quoting relatively long lead times between July and September. Meanwhile, HRC prices are hovering at €810-840/t base delivered, but demand is also quiet and sales volumes are so low that “there are no clear prices at the moment”, a seller suggests. Sources expect EU coil values to decline in the coming weeks under the burden of lower Asian-origin import offers, particularly for HRC. These are now some €170-180/t lower compared to European HRC (see Kallanish 5 May).

Some import offers are resurfacing for HDG from Asia at €860-870/t cfr in Italy and Spain, but appetite for material is non-existent and nobody is venturing to buy from the import market. Buyers expect European values to fall, in line with the weak downstream demand.   

At present, Eastern European countries like Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Czech Republic continue to drive demand in Europe, where sales prices for HDG from Italy and other EU countries are at €970-980/t delivered.