Italian coil prices are flat on-month, as are import values from Asian producers. Sources in the sector believe a price floor has been reached.

Some demand from service centres' customers is resurfacing following a quiet period of weak sales. This is being interpreted as an expected mild restocking, rather than a consumption recovery, owing to end-users’ need to replenish their warehouses. Service centres are now reporting higher sales, but at tight margins with zero profit. Downstream coil prices remain under strong pressure.

One supplier of Asian material says he had good sales volumes to Italy last month. Despite the absence of service centre demand, re-rollers have continued to buy on the import market. Multiple large buyers and a trader selling Asian material tell Kallanish their latest low bids have been refused by Asian suppliers.

Service centres are now purchasing Asian material to diversify their supply pool. Hot rolled coil import contracts from Japan, Korea and Turkey are being closed at approximately €580/tonne ($629) cfr Italy on average, while Vietnam-origin offers are at €570/t cfr.

Sources expect large tonnages of Indian HRC to soon arrive in Italy, which will quickly exhaust the EU second-quarter quota. As of 4 April, India had 294,662 tonnes of EU Q2 HRC quota allocation, with 237,854t remaining and 8,138t awaiting allocation.

Import offers are for June boarding and material availability in September. Depending on the quotas for each country of origin, service centres may wait to clear material through customs until subsequent quota periods when allocations are renewed.

Meanwhile, Italian domestic prices are at €645-650/t delivered. This week is particularly quiet due to the aftermath of the Easter holiday. Steelmakers are considering their new quotes and mulling some mild increases. Those interviewed also believe prices have reached rock bottom.