Europe's steel market may continue to be weak in January

Flat steel: Market steel prices continue to fall. In the European Union, the ex-factory price of hot-rolled steel coil is $600 per ton, down by $15 per ton from the beginning of the month. The ex-factory price of cold rolled steel coils was $685 per ton, down by $5. The European Union import price of hot rolled steel coil was 545 US dollars per ton (CFR), down 15 US dollars per ton. The import price of cold rolled steel coil was $650 per ton (CFR), down by $35 per ton. Some market participants said that the final ruling of the safeguards case is expected to be made in February next year, which increases the uncertainty of the later market. In Turkey, the domestic steel plate market prices continued to weaken. At present, the price of hot rolled steel coil is generally about $500-515 per ton (ex-factory price), but the actual transaction price is already below $500 per ton (ex-factory price). Some market participants said that as steel mills clean up their stocks, products over 2 mm thick can be sold at about 450 dollars per ton (ex-factory price). Some traders said that the price of cold rolled steel coil is about 580 US dollars per ton (ex-factory price), and the actual transaction price may be lower. More market participants said that the import market has been very quiet recently, nobody would like to buy CIS hot rolled steel coils at a price of $460-470 per ton (cfr), and there is no intention to buy other resources with a slightly higher price. At present, export prices are generally maintained at the beginning of the month, about $490-500 per ton (fob). According to local market participants, the export price of some thinner products to Pakistan is US$500 per ton (fob) and to Egypt is US$520 per ton (cfr). Industry insiders said that the current mood of steel mills and re-rolling mills is very depressed, reflecting the severe dilemma faced by re-rolling mills and processing industry and commerce.

Long steel: market steel prices continue to decline. In the European Union, the ex-factory price of threaded steel is 620 US dollars per ton, down 5 US dollars per ton from the beginning of the month. Wire rods for net use cost $630 per ton, roughly the same as before. The import price of threaded steel was US$575 per ton (CFR), down by US$5 per ton. In addition, the European Commission (EC) confirmed in its official communique that it had decided to extend the current investigation on import safeguards for two months. The European Commission said that the EU steel market has been looking forward to a resolution before Christmas, but because of the complexity of the problem, it is necessary to extend the investigation period. In the CIS, export prices of threaded steel and wire rods fell by $10-20 per ton in the last week of the year due to poor demand. Industry insiders said that the global threaded steel market shrank this year due to the snowball effect of US steel and aluminium tariffs. This forced Turkish suppliers to increase market investment in the Middle East, Europe and Asia, and increased competition for CIS steel mills, which led to lower prices. At present, the quotation of threaded steel in CIS region is between US$460 and 475 per ton (FOB Black Sea), and Russian quotation to European customers is about US$465 per ton (FOB Black Sea). It is reported that European and Middle Eastern customers import thread steel from Belarus, about $460 per ton (FOB Black Sea), and Ukraine's offer for thread steel is $460-475 per ton (FOB Black Sea), but both are lower than before. At the same time, the Russian wire price is 485-490 per ton (FOB Black Sea), which is also lower than before.

Prediction: According to the operation situation and the basic situation, the European steel market in January may continue to be weak.