Polish rebar and wire rod producers withdrew offers from the market over the week to Friday March 6 amid mounting concerns with rising costs for energy, especially for gas, and for raw materials, Fastmarkets heard.
According to market sources, assessing current market levels for Polish long steel products remains challenging following the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has had a cascading impact on international markets.
“What I hear from the market is that steel mills do not want to show offers while they check the situation with energy and raw materials,” a source said, adding that freight costs are also increasing because of the conflict.
As of Friday afternoon, Fastmarkets heard that several producers had withdrawn their offers from the market. Another source said that everything “got crazy” during the week, with mills not giving any offers or looking to cancel current orders.
During the week, offers for rebar were reported at around 2,670-2,820 zloty ($723-763) per tonne CPT, but sources said that they were later withdrawn. Despite that, some sources indicated that current mill delivery times remain around four weeks.
Some market participants expect that producers might soon re-enter the market with higher offer levels because of shifting geopolitical dynamics and rising uncertainty, Fastmarkets heard.
Meanwhile, other market participants said that while demand levels in the country remain low, there are some early signs that the situation is beginning to improve after months of cold weather.
“The weather is improving and construction sites are also ordering, so I expect that the demand for rebar will also increase — but right now I can confirm that trading activity is still slow,” a source said.
Despite reports of low liquidity in the market, some rebar transactions by stockists were reported at 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT on Friday.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, cpt Poland was 2,550-2,700 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening up from 2,550-2,600 zloty per tonne in the previous week.
Meanwhile, drawing quality wire rod price levels remained unchanged, with no new trading reported during the assessment period.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was stable week on week at 2,700-2,780 zloty per tonne on Friday.
