In the last week of the first quarter of 2023, the Cold Rolled Coil prices witnessed a stagnancy in their price trend, with participants awaiting price hikes and buyers becoming highly concerned about prolonged lead times and hyped-up costs. According to market participants, purchasing activity remained very cautious following the recent price hikes earlier this month, with buyers continuing to make bookings only for small tonnages of Cold Rolled Coil to cover their immediate needs. Buyers claim that the Cold Rolled Coil market faces bearish demand headwinds, so they take a wait-and-see approach before purchasing. However, the majority of Cold Rolled Coil transactions were concluded on the spot market during the last month of Q1 2023.

Cold Rolled Coil prices remained stable in the ongoing week ending March 31 in the US market as buyers have adequate inventories in their warehouses. As per market players, the lead times for Cold Rolled Coil were flat at 9-10 weeks, with mills said to be booked into late May and early June. US traders cite that these longer lead times do not look like they are creating additional demand or allowing the mills to book higher-priced spot tonnes. Buyers continued to review their order books as they mulled their next moves, with more saying they would reduce their contract purchases of Cold Rolled Coil to manage their inventories.

The Cold Rolled Coil prices remained stable in the European market on Tuesday, March 28, due to a stable supply-demand outlook. According to market participants, most suppliers had lead times up to June or July. Despite the long lead times, Italian buyers have become increasingly interested in overseas coil bookings owing to limited domestic supply and a widening price gap. European players claim that the previous gain in Cold Rolled Coil prices was driven primarily by a shortage from Tata Steel in the Netherlands, and the situation in Gijon is still ambiguous at this time. Furthermore, ArcelorMittal had to halt operations at its blast boiler in Gijon, Spain, last week due to a fire. According to our sources, Tata IJmuiden will decommission one blast boiler this week until September. Thus, the European players anticipate that the market has limited supplies of Cold Rolled Coil and are looking for other import options.

As a ripple effect, ChemAnalyst anticipates that the Cold Rolled Coil prices will remain range-bound owing to the higher stockpiles amidst the need-based demand outlook. Buyers are particularly interested in imported Cold Rolled Coil due to extended lead times from domestic mills and high local costs.