Because of the shortage of slabs and other raw materials, coupled with rising energy costs, European steel mills insisted on increasing the carbon plate price continuously.

Normally, Italian and Czech re-rolling mills relied on Russian and Ukrainian slab supplies. Due to the tight supply caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, European mills have turned to purchase from India and China origins to maintain their production.

However, buyers are not fully accepting such price increases from local mills despite the market supply shortage. Buyers’ target prices are currently far from what the mills quoted at present