EU steel market calculates flood damage

Today, the hot rolled coil (HRC) market in northwest Europe is recovering from devastating flooding, especially in the Hagen region in western Germany.

Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia has been badly damaged and is home to some of Germany's largest cold-rolling road rollers as well as other service centers. A state of emergency was introduced after the Volme River rose by 3-4 meters in recent days and overflowed its banks.

At least one cold mill and several service centers in the city have declared force majeure due to damage to facilities and railways. Some were unable to access their businesses to determine the extent of the damage, but expected they would not sell inbound and outbound shipments for at least a few weeks. Photos from one service center showed more than 1 meter of dirty oily water and debris seeping into the work. In the event of electronics damage on-site, it can take several weeks to troubleshoot the issue, according to an industry source.

The victims have already tried to find excess cutting and processing capacity in Germany or the Netherlands to continue serving customers during downtime.

Service centers in southern Germany were reportedly unable to retrieve materials on barges due to increased water levels on the Rhine, and there were concerns that river transport could be affected. Full reservoirs in the Sauerland and Eiffel could be dumped into rivers, which could exacerbate the situation.

Traders have already started taking calls from end users who have tons of them stuck on the platforms. Sheeting prices may rise due to restrictions, depending on the extent to which the flood has affected end users.

There was talk of damage to hot-dip galvanizing lines at a German plant, although a spokesman said that was not the case.

In Belgium, logistics problems continued to affect deliveries to service centers. One manufacturer of cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized steel sent employees home yesterday and planned to open it tomorrow. Another was experiencing difficulties because inbound shipments of raw materials were disrupted.

Argus' daily northwest EU HRC index dipped € 4.50 /t to € 1,175 /t ex-works, while the daily cold rolled coil (CRC) estimate was static at € 1,310 /t.

In Italy, market participants were surprised by the short-term closure of a large retroller after a fatal outcome. The site will be closed until July 18 after the accident yesterday morning.

One Italian mill was still offering September delivery this week, with flat steel prices for Germany at around € 30 per tonne. Others were reported to have been