Rebar prices in Poland rebounded in the week to Friday July 15 following the release of new offers, which are set to continue rising due to high costs, market sources told Fastmarkets.
The downtrend that had persisted in the Polish rebar market for the past couple of months has finally come to an end, according to sources.
Polish rebar producers were pushing for higher prices this week amid a surge in production costs and a looming energy crisis, market sources said.
During peak hours, electricity prices in Poland are exceeding 1,000 zloty ($208) per megawatt-hour in July, market participants told Fastmarkets. This is up from 650-700 zloty per MWh in June and sharply up from 378 zloty per MWh in July 2021
Last week, rebar prices in the nation had plummeted to their lowest since May 2021 amid persistently low activity.
But local mills withdrew offers after that, claiming that “sales at such prices are loss-making,” Fastmarkets heard.
This week saw some producers return with higher offers of 3,850 zloty per tonne cpt (about 3,800 zloty per tonne exw), sharply up from the official offers of 3,650 zloty per tonne reported earlier in July.
Buying interest in the local market remains low because buyers had purchased some tonnages at lower prices earlier in the month. But sources said they expect trading activity to improve toward the end of July because more buyers will need to restock, and higher prices will be accepted.
Additionally, flagship European producers ArcelorMittal has increased long steel prices in Europe by €60 ($60.10) per tonne this week. This, sources said, has given the market a clear signal that the downtrend is over.
The producer has a rebar mill in Warsaw and a wire rod mill in Sosnowiec.
“I think we should see price around 4,000 [zloty per tonne delivered] in the second half of July, then in August price can go up even a bit more,” a trading source told Fastmarkets.
Other sources, however, said that rebar price growth in Poland will be constrained by weakening end-user demand from the construction industry.
“Demand [for rebar] will decrease […] which can prevent [the rebar] price from surging. The number of construction projects will be significantly lower in Poland, mainly due to the high cost of debt,” another market source told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland was 3,600-3,800 zloty per tonne on Friday, up by 100-200 zloty per tonne from 3,500-3,600 zloty per tonne a week earlier.
In the secondary market, rebar was offered and traded at 3,900 zloty per tonne cpt, up from 3,700-3,750 zloty per tonne cpt last week.
Moldova’s rebar offers to Poland were heard at €820 per tonne cpt for August delivery, up by €60 per tonne from €760 per tonne cpt heard earlier in July.
Italian producers withdrew from the market last week, reconsidering their prices to Poland, sources told Fastmarkets.
Rebar offers from Czech Republic to Poland were reported at €800 per tonne delivered this week.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
