Polish domestic rebar and wire rod prices increased in the week to Friday March 27, supported by growing production costs and higher offer levels ahead of the Easter break.
The US-Iran conflict has caused spikes in global oil and gas prices, which have in turn rump up production costs for producers across Europe as mills deal with high energy prices.
Meanwhile, disruption to international trade routes, paired with the introduction of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), has limited volumes of imported materials into Europe.
Offers for rebar were heard at 2,720 zloty ($730) per tonne CPT during the assessment period, with estimates of workable levels heard around 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT.
According to sources, the growth in offer levels for rebar matches mills’ increase in production cost, while also noting that prices should soon stabilize at these higher levels amid distributors holding sufficient inventory coverage.
“Most of the big distributors are already stocked up, so April will be weaker in terms of purchases from mills,” a distributor source said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, cpt Poland was 2,650-2,720 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening up from 2,650-2,700 zloty per tonne the previous week.
Prices for domestic wire rod, drawing quality, also grew in the week to Friday amid reports of producers aiming for higher offer levels.
Local producers were heard to be targeting higher offers for domestic wire rod for end of April delivery. However, sources also noted that real demand levels in Poland remain low.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 2,815-3,000 zloty per tonne on Friday, rising from 2,730-2,815 zloty per tonne the previous week.
The new range reflects the latest indications in a low-liquidity market, with the lower end assessed on workable value and the upper end estimated to offers heard at 3,000 zloty per tonne, delivered.
