Sentiment in the European market for hot-rolled coil (HRC) has been gloomy in the week ended Thursday September 12 due to low demand, sources told Fastmarkets.
While domestic prices have been relatively stable over the past week, buyers have been targeting lower prices and they expected the mills to slightly decrease their prices in the next month.
“Demand is bad, and I am talking about demand from both end-users and distributors. This is a problem across Europe and globally,” an Italian distributor said.
Lower import offers have been putting downward pressure on domestic prices, according to market sources.
Some buyers have been cautious about making new deals for HRC from Turkey due to an imminent decision in the EU’s review of its safeguard measures.
The European Commission (EC) is scheduled to announce its decision by October 1 this year.
Last week, the EC approved proposed changes to the existing measures…