European Galvanized Plain Sheet Prices Edged Down as Buyers Looking for Imports

Germany: Galvanized Plain Sheet prices have fallen by approximately 2.7% in the European market during the week ending November 25^th, 2022, with domestic buyers opting for competitive imports. Despite market participants' bullish forecasts for the automotive sector in 2023, the European downstream coil market remained competitive, with domestic offers on a bearish trend this week. In Europe, insufficient demand from the downstream automotive industry and still-high stock levels at steel service centers and stockholders provoked limited buying interest in Galvanized Plain Sheets.

Generally, some buyers need to restock, but they want to wait for the price to fall to its lowest point before replenishing stocks for the first quarter of 2023. Furthermore, due to a lower demand outlook and overstocking, Galvanized Plain Sheet prices in Southern Europe have been under pressure from competitive overseas offers. According to manufacturers, Galvanized Plain Sheet has remained a problematic product for domestic mills, with low demand driving down prices. As a result, Galvanized Plain Sheet manufacturers are forced to offer domestic quotations at prices lower than import prices to fill their order books. Northern European Galvanized Plain Sheet prices fell by USD 31/MT and settled at USD 770/MT ex-works Ruhr, while South European prices fell by USD 26/MT and settled at USD 755/MT ex-works Italy.

According to traders, they have had difficulty securing volumes of Galvanized Plain sheets due to the effective parity between domestic and import offerings; however, the sentiment was moderate due to buyers' expectations for a domestic price increase. Market participants saw some restocking in the Italian market, with the expectation that domestic prices would rise soon. Traders interpreted this as a positive sign for near-term demand, as buyers considered locking in lower-cost forward material against a potential uptrend.

Galvanized Plain sheet market sentiment in North Europe was more closely linked to the prospects of the automotive sector, which was negotiating long-term contract settlements with European mills. While automotive demand was not quite at mills' desired levels, market players were more optimistic about performance in 2023. Thus, ChemAnalyst predicts that Galvanized Plain Sheet prices will fall until mid-December due to limited purchasing activity and a declining demand outlook.