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Italian sales of cold rolled and hot dip galvanized coils continue to be particularly sluggish, with customers buying little material and expecting prices to continue to fall this week, in line with international coil prices.
While HDG demand has been reported to be slightly more buoyant in recent days with some domestic sales for low tonnages, CRC demand has remained flat with values falling in the 1,300 euro/ton area.
With contracts for hot-rolled coils dropping below the 1,200 euro/ton ex-works base level in Italy to 1,140-1,180 euro/ton ex-works base, CRC is trading at 1,250-1,300 euro/ton ex-works base, but demand is so weak that some sources believe the will be a workable price this week.
Some sources believe service centers in Italy will resume buying when HRC falls to the 1,000 euro/ton level. Others say service centers will have to resume buying in May after a long destocking process. At the moment, HDG and CRC producers are offering material for third quarter delivery.