Conditions on the European market for cold-rolled coil will become tougher – Argus

The European cold-rolled coil (CRC) market will become tighter due to production disruptions and import restrictions, according to Argus Media.

In particular, on October 25-26, a fire broke out at the Marcegaglia plant in Ravenna (Italy), one of the company’s three cold-rolled coil production facilities. This incident led to a disruption in production. However, the company did not comment on which line was affected and how long the downtime would last. Nevertheless, some sources suggest that the shutdown could last for a long time.

On October 27, Italian media reported that an investigation had been launched to assess the damage and determine the time needed to restore the rolling mill to full operation.

Marcegaglia is the main supplier of cold-rolled coil to Italy. Even before the incident, buyers in Italy were concerned about the prospects for total supply, given the upcoming reduction in quotas and the anti-dumping investigation launched by the European Commission in September this year into these products from India, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Turkey. These five countries accounted for 67% of total CRC imports to the EU in 2024.

Several Spanish and Italian buyers told the agency that they would have to reorient their supply chains from imports to local producers. They suggested that the latter would start producing more CRC for sale. In recent years, EU producers have reduced production of some grades due to lower demand and high costs.

At the end of September and in October, the global hot-rolled coil (HRC) market showed opposite trends in key regions. European prices rose under the influence of expected trade protection measures, while the US market remained stable amid weak demand, and China continued to lower prices due to excess inventories and uncertainty about industrial recovery.