Europe, Middle East and Africa Market Analysis

摘要

As forecast, EU prices have held through the early part of the summer as mills continue to process earlier orders. Operating rates remain high, but lower order levels over the last few weeks have brought down lead times. For now mills do not need to cut pricing and they may get extra protection as they announce an anti-dumping investigation against Belarussian pipe - one of the few import suppliers to the market that does not face anti-dumping restrictions already. Should demand and orders return for fourth quarter delivery as expected, then mills will be able to hold prices at current levels, although further gains are unlikely. Nevertheless, we believe that the bias remains to the downside if the soft patch over the summer continues to result in lower order levels. Mills may choose to sacrifice some of their good margins to ensure their own continued high utilisation rates.