German rebar mills saw price declines during June, down from a peak base of €450/tonne ($514) which was reached in May.
Market participants agree that prices are now below that mark, but also note that the drop is not necessarily unsettling.
“It is not unusual in the weeks prior to the summer holiday that prices give in somewhat,” a manager of a Brandenburg bender firm tells Kallanish. He and a source in northern Germany see acceptable offers at €440/t, which with additional standard size extras of €265/t translates to €705/t delivered.
Some buyers for larger distributor chains in western and southern Germany are broadly around €430-435/t but are sure that mills are willing to concede lower for larger volumes deals.
One Ruhr-based manager sees no reason to fear a downward spiral. Ha also attributes the dip to the slowdown of activity in summer, with at least two mills going on breaks next week. He adds he also heard of low offers from Polish mills which has caused some pressure on the German prices.
The manger from Brandenburg, which is on the Polish border, dismisses that Polish mills play much of a role in German pricing, and sees that their offers are not necessarily much lower.
The northern German source says the same of some Czech suppliers, where he occasionally purchases from “mainly for the sake of having my suppliers diversified, not because they are much cheaper”.
