Most consuming sectors of hot rolled coil are healthy with the exception of the pipe making industry, which is weaker than the others. The steel companies, seeing that demand was not huge, have revised their figures downwards to a greater extent than was anticipated by several buyers. Stocks at the service centres are relatively low. Distributors will need to purchase after the holidays and some may even start to do so in the remaining weeks of July, while prices are low.
The German mills are not so dependent on the commodity grades as their rolling schedules are full with orders for the more exotic qualities for the next three months and beyond. Wind tower and line-pipe markets are particularly busy. Consequently, producers have held on to prices for commercial material, although customers are pushing for discounts by quoting cheap Chinese offers.
European cold rolled coil demand shows no signs of revival. Customers are wary of placing new business because they anticipate that prices could go even lower.
Although underlying consumption is good in Germany, most buyers have postponed order placement in the hope of cheaper prices in the latter half of the third trimester. As a result, the mills have offered substantial discounts.
More detail in the full report here
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