Current weak demand from end users has made significant impact on EU steel flat market.
Though European mills have already scaled back production, the stocks still kept at high level due to stagnated demand.
In Germany, the steel flat price continued to fall in December. It’s reported that HRC market price dropped by US$ 66/ton to US$604/ ton. Meanwhile, CRC and HDG price also declined to US$656/ton and US$ 733/ton, respectively.
As shipping costs declined, steel flat products from CIS and China become competitive in German market. The shipping costs from China to Germany had lifted to US$130/ton, but now are incredibly low, only US$10/ton. Source: Yieh.com