The seasonal summer slowdown further inhibited demand, sources said.
There was little hope of short-term recovery, sources added, with ongoing economic uncertainty and regulatory obstacles resulting in a lack of significant construction activity being initiated.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was unchanged at €620-635 ($690-707) per tonne on Wednesday.
The significant oversaturation of long steel at cut and benders continues to put downward pressure on rebar prices, sources told Fastmarkets, and some mills have started looking further afield within the EU to try and find more receptive markets for their products.
“Poland is a good market now,” a buyer source in the Netherlands said. ”There are fewer regulations for developers to abide by [so] there are more possibilities.”
Scrap prices, meanwhile, have continued to fall since the beginning of the month due to the recent downturn in Asia-origin billet import prices, which has, in turn, lowered feedstock costs for European long steel mills.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $361.15 per tonne on Wednesday, down by $5.99 per tonne week on week, and down by $22.50 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, meanwhile, was unchanged at €615-650 per tonne.
Mills have maintained steady wire rod prices across Europe since July, sources said, adding that small price declines could be expected when mills fully reopen after their summer closures.
“Mills have rolled over prices for the Summer break, [but] we could start to see offers that are €10-15 lower than the current prices for September,” a wire rod producer source said.
Published by: India-Inés Levy
