Spot prices for strip mill products are still falling in northern Europe. While there is a perceived slow improvement in underlying demand, there has been no pronounced seasonal upturn. There is no shortage of cold rolled or coated material. Furthermore, local sellers face competition from producers and importers in the south of the continent. Values for hot rolled coil have decreased less. Availability is tighter, especially for pickled material – still affected by the outage at Tata’s IJmuiden works.
Current market selling figures have been slipping despite producers suggesting that price increases are imminent. The picture will become clearer in June when the mills negotiate their contract for the second half of 2011 with the automotive buyers.
Hot rolled plate values have dropped less then those for strip mill products, especially in the Nordic countries, as the differential between prices in the north and south of Europe widens. The market for higher specification plates is much stronger. Capacity is limited and there have been reports of small price increases.
Long products prices continue to slide, particularly for material produced by scrap-based mills. Although there are various state-backed infrastructure projects in progress, the general pick-up in construction activity, predicted for the spring, has not happened. Moreover, the problems in North Africa have curbed demand there, resulting in plenty of spare rebar being offered by Turkish producers. However, the downward trend in prices is slowing and there are signs of scrap values increasing. Steel prices are expected to remain fairly stable until the end of the summer holidays.