European steel margins may dip in Q2 on weak demand

摘要

London—European hot rolled coil steel margins may weaken further in the second quarter of 2020, due to low demand as the coronavirus pandemic disrupts global trade, according to S&P Global Platts estimates. The Northwest European HRC steel to raw materials spread for Q2 may fall to Eur231/mt ($249) on relatively stronger raw material costs from around Eur253/mt in the first three months of the year, based on calculations using futures prices on April 3 for steel, iron ore and coking coal. The NWE HRC-raw materials spread averaged Eur264/mt ($289/mt) in March, according to Platts data.