Since the end of last week ArcelorMittal has been announcing a price increase for its northern European coil customers, Kallanish understands from market sources.

The increase is of the order of €20-30/tonne ($23.3-35.0/t), effective immediately. Following the hike, new offers for HRC are now understood to be at €580/t ex-works while HDG is offered at €680/t ex-works. The new levels, if accepted by clients, will be applied mainly for September and October rollings being ordered from this week onwards.

The attempt to increase prices in Northern Europe follows the recovery of coil prices already noted in Italy and for import offers. Italian HRC prices have recovered during recent weeks by over €30/t from the previous basement level of below €500/t ex-works (see Kallanish 5 July).

A source also confirms that the spot market price increase is supported by the fact that the latest third quarter and second half long-term contracts have all been agreed. For H2 in particular buyers have accepted a significant price increase compared with H1 this year, the source says.