ArcelorMittal, Europe's largest steelmaker, is reported to have raised the price of its hot-rolled coil in Europe by 20 euros / ton to 1170 euros / ton, and cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanized sheet prices by 20 euros / ton to 1320 euros / ton.
Falling prices in China have hit sentiment in Europe, and buyers are taking a wait-and-see attitude. However, those who urgently need to buy raw materials have to face persistent strong quotations from European factories.
Market sources were not surprised at first that ArcelorMittal's weekly price increase had become a regular pattern. However, the price increase of 20 euros per tonne is seen as a stabilizing effort by steel mills to prevent the market from stagnating.
