ArcelorMittal raises European flat steel offers

Leading European steelmaker ArcelorMittal is implementing a price increase for flat steel prices for October and November deliveries.

The producer is targetting €800/t for remaining October deliveries of hot-rolled coils (HRC) and €850/t for November deliveries. The former prices are mostly available for East European destinations, whereas the lead times and prices for the rest of Europe are mostly for November. Into Italy, the producer is offering €800-850/t delivered.

The increase signifies €50-100/t from previous offer levels at €750/t. Market participants had been recently quoting prices for north European steelmakers in a range between €700-750/t depending on the supplier.

ArcelorMittal is also offering cold-rolled coils with a premium on HRC of €100/t at €900-950/t, and hot-dipped galvanised (HDG) coils with a €130/t premium at €930-980/t.

The increases are underpinned primarily by higher production costs.

This is the first increase the steelmaker has announced since March 2022, during which time the market moved to peak levels in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine and as the market was establishing the implications for steel and raw materials supply in Europe.

But the supply-demand ratio in the bloc remains not optimal, so market participants have questioned whether mills would be able to pass these inflated costs on to buyers.

By Lora Stoyanova