Italian rebar prices remained stable in the week to Wednesday October 14, with weak demand, rising energy and logistics costs pressuring prices, sources told Fastmarkets during the week.
Deals and indications in Northern Italy were reported within €730-760 ($816-849) per tonne ex-works, with one buyer expecting prices to reach €770 per tonne ex-works due to higher energy costs. However, no transactions were confirmed at this level.
“Prices are holding up and they [producers] are threatening new increases,” the same source said, while adding: “Energy costs are rising more and more, and some operators have already told me that current pricing is still insufficient to cover production costs.”
A distributor source said that customers were not willing to buy big quantities at €760 per tonne ex-works in the North yet.
“Demand is so and so, at this price level customers don’t want to buy big quantity, so we are going on day by day, without big orders,” the same source said, with another market source adding that energy and logistics costs remained under pressure.
Meanwhile, in Southern Italy, latest deals and offers were reported in the range of €750-780 per tonne ex-works during the week.
A buyer source said that some very small transactions were possible to achieve for €790 per tonne ex-works, but this level was not widely accepted in the market as workable yet.
A producer in the region said this was the new minimum level for transactions, but there was a lack of details about such orders and a lack of corroboration among other sources about this higher price.
“Gas and electricity are driving up inflation and costs. Prices must be adjusted accordingly,” the same producer said.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Italy, was stable week on week at €730-780 per tonne on October 14.
In Spain, a trade source said that rebar prices remained stable at €750 per tonne delivered. “Although, when [the] winter starts, usually a price reduction comes due to less of works, but let’s see,” the same source said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Spain, remained unchanged at €750 per tonne on October 14.
In Northern Europe, latest deals for rebar were heard at €660-680 per tonne delivered during the week, in line with indications in the market, while offers reached €690 per tonne delivered, sources said.
“Italians are keeping prices up in Italy, while selling their unused capacity elsewhere at (much) lower prices,” a buyer source in the region said.
This was reflected in Fastmarkets’ latest weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, which was €660-690 per tonne on October 14, down from €715-720 per tonne the previous week.
Sources indicated workable levels for wire rod in Southern Europe within €670-680 per tonne delivered, unchanged from previous levels.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was €670-680 per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.
In Northern Europe, wire rod was indicated in the range of €705-715 per tonne delivered, also stable from previous prices heard in the market.
Thus, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was unchanged week on week at €705-715 per tonne on October 14.
MEGASA targets expansion into German structural steel market
Earlier in the week, on Monday October 12, Brazilian integrated steel producer CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional) signed a term sheet for the potential sale of Stahlwerk Thüringen to Bipadosa, the holding company of the MEGASA Group, the German steel producer announced in a press release.
Stahlwerk Thüringen is a long steel producer focused on manufacturing structural steel sections, beams and profiles at its site in Unterwellenborn.
The steelmaker has been part of the Brazilian CSN Group since 2012 and has an installed production capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of steel per year, with Europe being its main consumer market, according to company information.
MEGASA (Metalúrgica Galaica) is a Spanish industrial group with many years of experience in the European steel industry. The company focuses on long steel products and operates production sites in Spain, Portugal and France.
Fastmarkets asked Stahlwerk Thüringen and MEGASA about potential changes to operations at the German site, including its product portfolio, capacity and market position, but the companies had not responded by the time of publication.
A Spanish trade source said that they did not expect the potential transaction to have a wider impact on the market.
“Frankly speaking, I do not think so [that there will be wide impact]. Stahlwerk is specialized in profiles and MEGASA only had a small plant for small beams and angles in Zaragoza. So, for them it is a new market,” the same source said on Tuesday October 13.
As part of the sales process, the parties have agreed to an exclusivity period of up to ten weeks, according to Stahlwerk Thüringen’s announcement. During this period, the potential transaction will be reviewed, with any completion subject to customary regulatory approvals, the producer said.
Nia Radenkova in Sofia, Bulgaria, contributed to this article.
