Poland has seen a significant increase in rebar imports this year, with supply from neighbouring Germany driving the surge, Kallanish notes.
Polish intake of rebar from Germany in January-July surged 151% on-year to 225,983 tonnes, far outpacing the 88% growth in overall rebar imports to 343,390t, according to Eurostat data. This represents a monthly average for German-origin rebar imports of 32,283t this year, versus 19,629t in full-year 2023 and 9,969t in 2022.
CMC, which owns a long steelworks in Poland, said last week that although Polish demand has improved and regional mills shown supply discipline, this has been offset by increased import flows from neighbouring countries. CMC Poland’s rebar sales dropped 35% on-year in its August fiscal quarter.
As rebar sales in Germany have deteriorated this year along with the nation’s ailing construction industry, some German mills have been increasing their sales activity in Poland, whose market has better prospects.
Although Polish construction has also been sluggish this year, EU-funded National Recovery Fund (KPO) projects are set to spur construction sector investment in Poland from 2025. However, the shortage of qualified constriction workers could hamper the progress of these investments.
Polish seven-month imports of HS 7213 code products from Germany meanwhile surged 99% on-year to 120,209t, while intake of HS 7216 products rose 46% to 113,537t.
Adam Smith Poland
