European rebar bottoms, steel market remains weak

Demand is sluggish to restrict steel prices and the European market remains weak. The CRU price index in the region was 175.0, which was unchanged from the previous week, which was a 0.5% increase from the previous month and a decrease of 7.2% from the same period of last year.

In terms of coil volume, the European coil market weakened due to lack of demand support. The price of Nordic heat coils was 500-505 Euros/ton, some transactions were as low as 485-490 Euros/ton, cold coils were 560-600 Euros/ton, buyers’ bids were on the low side; South European hot coils were traded at 475-485 Euros/ton, cold Roll 550-560 Euros/ton. Due to the previous control of production, the order status of steel mills in April and May is better. However, in order to win sales, some suppliers began offering discounts to customers and it is expected that the euro-crimp market will continue to operate weakly in the short term.

In terms of slabs, the European plate market is weak. Demand for the European plate market is weak, and steel prices have declined. Local steel mills are quoting €530-545/tonne; import resource competitiveness is weak, China's resources offer is reduced from €510/tonne (CIF) to €500/tonne (CIF), CIS and India resources are €435-462 / Ton (FOB). From the perspective of orders received by steel mills in the second quarter, there is no apparent recovery in local market demand. However, due to low inventory levels in southern Europe and traders’ expectation that some new projects will be started in Northern Europe in the second half of the year, the European market for heavy plates is expected to shrink in the short term. Stable, late or slightly upswing.

In rebar, the European rebar market bottomed. German rebar arrival prices fell to 500-510 euros/ton, France and Spain arrived 490-500 euros/ton, and Italian rebar prices further fell to 450-460 euros/ton. Due to extremely low steel prices, some Italian steel mills stopped offering prices and temporarily withdrew from the market. Another steel mill started to raise prices by 20 Euros/ton, and the latest factory price was 470-480 Euros/ton. In view of the recent increase in scrap prices and the reduction in steel supply, it is expected that the Italian rebar market will start to bottom out in the short term, and other European markets will also slowly pick up.

In the steel section, the European steel market has further declined. Due to sluggish demand, the Nordic type 1 steel arrival price fell from €600/tonne to 585-590 euros/tonne, with a few transactions as low as €580/tonne and the arrival of small sections at €540-550/tonne; Southern Europe The ex-factory price of type 1 steel fell from 570-590 EUR/tonne to 540 EUR/tonne and the ex-factory price of small sections was 510-530 EUR/tonne. As the current demand for long products in Europe and steel prices are extremely depressed, some steel mills have begun to stop production in order to avoid continued losses. It is expected that the supply-demand relationship will gradually improve in the later period, and then the price of steel will also stabilize.