PRICING NOTICE: Adjustment of European HRC specifications to accommodate longer lead times

Originally, the methodologies for the Fastmarkets steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, and steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, stated that only prices for material delivered within six weeks would be considered.

Longer lead time had been seen in the market when the consultation was initiated in early April 2021, and lead times are currently very much in excess of six weeks due to severe material shortages and strong demand and this situation is expected to persist until at least the end of 2021.

In Northern Europe and Italy, the earliest delivery time currently available for HRC is September, with some producers already claiming to be sold out until December.

Consequently, Fastmarkets has decided to retain the six-week delivery specification under normal circumstances, but will consider longer lead times when no material is available for delivery within six weeks. The changes to the specifications below will come into effect from Friday May 14. 

The adjusted specifications are as follows (amendments in italics):

MB-STE-0028 Steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, € per tonne
Quality: Grade s235jr, 1,200-1,300mm, thickness 3mm; standard extras for dimensions excluded
Quantity: Min 50 tonnes
Location: Ex-works Northern Europe (defined as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium)
Timing: Up to 6 weeks (longer delivery times will be considered under unusual conditions when no material is available for delivery within 6 weeks)
Unit: € per tonne
Payment terms: Typical commercial practice in the HRC market. Transactions that are conducted on different payment or credit terms will be adjusted back to the base specifications, taking into account discounts and standard.
Publication: Daily, 4pm London time
Notes: Only material offered to/traded within Northern Europe, as defined above, will be considered.

MB-STE-0892: Steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, € per tonne
Quality: Grade s235jr, width 1,250-1,500mm, thickness 3-4mm; standard extras for dimensions excluded
Quantity: Min 28 tonnes
Location: Ex-works Italian mills
Timing: Up to 6 weeks (longer delivery times will be considered under unusual conditions when no material is available for delivery within 6 weeks)
Unit: € per tonne
Payment terms: Typical commercial practice in the HRC market. Transactions that are conducted on different payment or credit terms will be adjusted back to the base specifications, taking into account discounts and standard.
Publication: Daily, 4pm London time
Notes: Only material offered to/traded within Italy will be considered.

To provide feedback on these indices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter, please contact Maria Tanatar by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Maria Tanatar, re: European HRC indices.’

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.