The European automotive industry is bracing for another bruising rise in raw material costs as continental steelmakers resume cranking up their supply contract prices as soon as next month. Just as the Frankfurt auto show opened on last Monday to the global motoring press, Germany's two largest steel suppliers, ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter, followed other European peers by announcing plans to hike flat steel prices another 20-30 euros per tonne starting in the fourth quarter. That is set to complicate steel price negotiations that carmakers were hoping would cut their steel bills amid falling spot prices so far this year.
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