European steel-raw materials spreads fall to multi-year low in Q2, hits mill profitability

摘要

London—European HRC steel to raw material price spreads fell further in June, leaving spreads in the second quarter at a multi-year low and well below industry breakeven levels, according to S&P Global Platts estimates July 1. Narrowing HRC to raw materials spreads suggest losses for steel mills, due to weak steel prices and high iron ore costs, and after accounting for logistics and other operating costs. The Northwest European hot-rolled coil steel to raw materials spread averaged just under Eur193/mt ($218/mt) in June, down from Eur219/mt in May, Platts estimates showed. The metric fell to the weakest since Platts started collecting the data in April 2016. For the second quarter, the Northwest Europe HRC-raw materials spread averaged Eur224.66/mt, the lowest quarterly level in at least four years.