MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (September 18)

[Europe] European hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices remained flat this week, with the market yet to see any large-scale inventory replenishment since the summer holidays. Although several mills attempted to push up offers last week due to rising energy and raw material costs, these target prices have failed to materialize amid strong resistance from distributors. HRC quotes in Northwest Europe and Italy held steady at 737 and 732 EUR/tonne EXW (~857 and 851 USD/tonne), respectively. Northern European mills offered 750 EUR/tonne DDP (~872 USD/tonne) for late October orders; meanwhile, buyers reported that some mills set their ex-works base price at 750 EUR/tonne EXW for November deliveries. However, considering the current sluggish demand for carbon steel and the lingering availability of sub-750 EUR/tonne offers, closing actual deals remains difficult. Furthermore, as October 1st approaches, both buyers and sellers are closely monitoring the imminent implementation of the EU's new "melt and pour" regulations, assessing its potential impact on fourth-quarter import quotas and the broader supply chain rearrangement.

According to SMM statistics, both mill stocks and social stocks of construction steel destocked to varying degrees this period. Total construction steel inventory came in at 7.8727 million tons, down 0.2013 million tons period-on-period, or -2.47% period-on-period, with the destocking pace accelerating.

Building materials social inventory: According to an SMM survey, total building materials social inventory destocking accelerated this period. As of September 10, 2026, SMM building materials social inventory stood at 5.2714 million mt, down 186,600 mt WoW, a decline of 3.42%.