The ex-factory price index of hot-rolled coil (HRC) in Northern Europe hiked by 2.6% week on week and by 3.1% month on month on January 19. The increase in steel prices was mainly due to the recent surge in European energy prices, which have raised steel mills’ production costs.

The sales volume of European passenger cars continued to decline in the second half of last year due to chip shortages; however, the demand for HRC from European automakers has grown recently. The HRC orders in Northern Europe have basically fully booked for the first quarter of the year.

In addition, HRC export offers from overseas suppliers to Europe have mostly hiked in the past week, which was also a reason for higher prices of European HRC products.