Last week’s announcement of new rebar size extras by some mills has been followed by increased effective rebar offers, Austrian sources reaffirm.
The size extras were amended for the first time since 2015, with some mills simultaneously raising base prices, at least for straight rebar.
Size extras for the standard thickness of 12mm were lifted by €15/tonne to €280/t ($325), with base prices lifted by the same degree. Offers are still scarce amid the summer lull, but buyer sources tell of delivered prices of €640-650/t, which suggest a base price of €360-370/t.
The picture is more opaque for coiled rebar, given each country has a specific offer system. For Austrian customers, domestic and German mills traditionally quote an effective price not differentiating between base price and size extra. “It has been habitual for as long as I’m in the business, certainly more than 20 years,” one buyer tells Kallanish.
He notes that coil offers from Italian mills – which are still going by the older size extra lists – went up by €10-20/t last week. Another buyers tells of German offers – including the newer size extras – that are €30-40/t higher than before.
The new size extra for coiled rebar of 12mm thickness is the same as for straight bar, €280. For thicker gauges, the size extra for coil can be €15 higher than for straight bar. According to the buyer, the effective offers to Austria do not differentiate much by thickness either. Therefore, the base price portion cannot really be traced back.
Regarding newer offers for straight bar from Italy, one buyer tells of increases by €10-20 since last week. For customers in southern Austria of mills near Lake Garda, a relatively short distance, this would mean base prices of around €350. Offers to other locations could easily be €15+ more, he says.
Christian Koehl Germany
