Prices for coil products in Northwest Europe are considered to be firm and in fact strengthening. It could still take some weeks however before effective transaction prices are much above the level of €500/t ex-works ($594/t) that have been commonly witnessed in July.

In Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands most customers are now on holiday, so the market in the northern Europe is relatively quiet, Kallanish hears from German and Benelux sources. “There is still sufficient material around which you can get for old prices, so I don’t think we’ll feel much of a surge before September, when restocking restarts,” a German buyer says.

Reports of intended price increases are meanwhile abundant. The market leader’s earlier announcement of lifting prices by €25-30/t has been followed by “… the German mills asking €15-20 more, and from further east €45/t more was announced for rolling in September,” the buyer says. The latter hike would bring eastern and western prices to the same level, if paid. So far it is only an asking price, the buyer says.

In spite of holidays, German mills are heard to be most resolute, and “… do not go below €520/t any longer,” a Dutch source says. “On the whole however, some mills may get nervous in the meantime about receiving enough orders.  If there is a lack of orders and/or gaps in their production planning they will look for orders, and so prices might fall again.”

Cold-rolled coil is seen at €600/t, and possibly more, as “… the span differs widely between the mills,” the German manager says. Hot-dipped galv is still seen at €650/t or above by many in the market. One service centre source has observed a drop of € 40-50/t since May however, and says that this is probably due to much incoming material in Antwerp and other EU ports.