Northern European steel longs prices stable amid slow consumption

Weak demand and pessimistic sentiment continued to inhibit trading in the Northern European rebar and wire rod market in the week to Wednesday February 14, Fastmarkets heard.

Higher input costs and weak economic conditions resulted in little movement in the market, sources said.

Carnival holidays in the Netherlands on February 11-13 further compounded the quietness in the market, Fastmarkets understands.

But producers remained firm on current offers, given higher input costs, sources said.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €650-660 ($697-707) per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward by €5 per tonne week on week from €655-660 per tonne.

Market participants reported a dead market and did not expect an upturn in demand in the short term.

“The market is dead, and nothing is happening, especially with holidays over the past week across the Netherlands,” a buyer source said.

“The market has not moved week on week,” a second buyer source said.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality) domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €650-660 per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.

Meanwhile, international prices for heavy melting scrap (HMS) have remained high since the beginning of February.

Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was $416.02 per tonne on Wednesday, down by $1.72 per tonne week on week from $417.74 per tonne.

Published by: India-Inés Levy

fastmarkets.com