Italian longs producers cut prices this week, amid the weak construction season and tepid global market recovery.
Argus‘ weekly Italian rebar assessments declined by €15/t to €575/t ex-works, while the drawing-quality wire rod index softened by €10/t, to €650/t delivered.
Italian producers dropped rebar prices to €580/t ex-works, including extras for sizes, with levels of €560-570/t ex-works available for larger orders, probably in attempts to spur buying interest ahead of the Easter holiday. Demand remains low as customers still doubt prices have reached the bottom, market participants said.
Indications for Italian drawing quality wire rod stood in a wide range of €640-670/t delivered locally and to nearby markets depending on tonnages, but producers were yet to start offering April material. In Spain offers were €10/t below these levels last week, but given high pressure from imports it was possible to obtain lower prices for sizable tonnages in Italy and Spain. Workable levels for high-carbon wire rod remained at €750-780/t delivered in Italy late last week.
Offers to nearby markets were scarce as some mills closed their March order books and were about to start their April campaign next week. But indications for rebar were pegged at €585-590/t ex-works, although given lower local prices discounts were deemed available. Despite a slow recovery seen in the construction sector across Europe, Italian mills were mainly focused on the central region while they faced high competition with Turkish suppliers in the southern countries.
Although inflation rates fell below 3pc, it was unclear if interest rates might decrease, but any cut would only be slight, a German market participant said. Construction activity is not expected to improve substantially, with fabricators maintaining cut and rebar prices in the range of €650-690/t delivered in Germany. Rebar prices from Germany mills were indicated at €640-650/t delivered for smaller tonnages and at least €630-640/t delivered lower for larger lots, with €620/t delivered available in some cases. Some German buyers were still receiving tonnages booked late last year for the first quarter as they had to postpone these deliveries after slower than expected construction demand.
In Poland rebar prices fell to €650/t delivered and below locally, with €630/t delivered available to nearby markets last week.
Offers of Bulgarian rebar lowered to 1,215-1,230 lev/t (€621-629/t) delivered last week under pressure from cheaper imports.
Some European buyers have resumed purchases of rebar and wire rod from overseas suppliers in recent weeks, suggesting prices may be close to reaching a floor. Sales were reported mainly from Turkey to Balkan markets at $580-595/t for small lots of rebar, with latest bookings heard to Serbia and Albania last week. “In Serbia no-one wants to buy a kilogram, as they are scared of further price drops,” a buyer said. Drawing quality wire rod was also heard booked from Turkey mainly to Spain at €590/t cfr or slightly below for late March-early April shipment in the past two weeks, with this quarter’s quota filled and it is estimated that Turkish allocation for the next quota period will be exhausted promptly in the first few days of next month.
Egyptian mills were offering rebar at $580-590/t fob and were said to be focusing on other markets, such as the Americas. There was talk that GCC rebar might have been imported to Europe recently, probably because of a prolonged downturn in Asia and other markets, but no details have emerged.
Argus Media
