June 2009 | Coated Steels
Small uptick in import prices for HDG: European Market Highlights
Automotive demand shows promising signs
The beginning of the month saw some slight increases in import offers into Europe, as the price increased by €10/tonne ($14/tonne). Export offers into Europe are now in the region of €440-500/tonne ($612-696/tonne) up from €440-490/tonne.
Indian and Latin American exporters are understood to be offering HDG at the lower end of this price range, with East Asian mills at the higher end. This was due to the slight uptick in demand that MBR mentioned last month. However, the positive sentiment does not look set to continue to increase prices, with most market participants remaining conservative over prospects for the coming months.
When MBR previously estimated HDG production costs in March, it became clear that mills were struggling to maintain margins at prevailing market prices, with prices actually below the costs of the majority of producers in Europe. In the first quarter,...
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