Prices for long steel products in Northern Europe continued to soften in the second half of July owing to generally muted demand intensified by the traditional summer holiday period.
“This year, the effect of holidays is stronger than normally,” one seller said on Wednesday July 23.
While German mills continued their attempts to sell steel rebar for €620-630 ($658-669) per tonne delivered, material from Poland was said to be traded at €600-610 per tonne delivered in Germany, with most deals closer to the lower end of that range.
Lower prices for Polish rebar result from the weakening of the domestic market in the country.
In Austria, Italian rebar in coils was heard booked for around €610 per tonne delivered, which would be equivalent to around €600 per tonne delivered for bars, while earlier in July similar material was heard booked at higher prices. This was despite the fact that, internally in Italy, rebar prices moved up over the week to July 23 owing to improved demand.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe, widened downward to €600-630 per tonne on July 23 versus €615-630 per tonne on July 16.
Unlike in the rebar sector, mesh wire rod prices from German suppliers softened to €590-595 per tonne delivered, according to a local source.
Meanwhile, material from Poland was estimated to be available for no more than €590 per tonne delivered.
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, widened downward to €590-610 per tonne on July 23, from €600-610 per tonne on July 16.
Upper-end prices were unchanged because prices in the Netherlands and Denmark are traditionally higher than those in Germany and Austria, but input from the former two markets was limited by holiday absences.
