European long steel prices may see April rise

Long steel prices could move up soon in the Spanish and European markets, Celsa commercial director Víctor Martínez said during last week’s Iberia Steel Net Forum organised by EUROMETAL. Higher prices will be supported by the international market situation, he added.

“The value of scrap has fallen a little in recent months. Turkish mills are now buying their raw materials at higher prices. It is a strange situation. The mills in Turkey are producing steel with or without demand and this will influence the market. In April and May we estimate that prices will move up supported by the recovery in scrap [… prices]. So, it is a good time to buy now for longs consumers,” Martínez continued.

He added that the Turkish market is also awaiting the new tariff-free import quotas to sell to Europe for the period after June 2019, preparing therefore to collect new orders soon in the second quarter.

According to Kallanish price indexes, rebar prices in Northern Europe have recovered by1.5% since beginning of this year, while they lost -1.5% during the same period in Italy. Scrap prices across Europe are continuing to recover and Turkish scrap has now settled at some $40/tonne higher than it was in early January 2019.