A Polish mill was heard increasing its offer price for July production rebar by 50 zloty ($12) per tonne, to 2,800 zloty per tonne CPT. The main reasons behind this decision were high production costs, particularly electricity, Fastmarkets understands.
But this price level was not workable, according to buyers.
Most Polish producers kept their offers unchanged at 2,750 zloty per tonne CPT.
Market participants estimated the tradeable market level for volumes of up to 1,000 tonnes in the range of 2,730-2,750 zloty per tonne CPT.
According to sources, for larger volumes, Polish mills could accept levels of around 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT. This level was excluded from the final assessment because it did not comply with Fastmarkets’ methodology.
Thus, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland was 2,730-2,750 zloty per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by 20 zloty per tonne from 2,710-2,750 zloty per tonne one week prior.
Offers of German material were heard at €635-640 ($679-684) per tonne delivered Poland. This was slightly higher than the offers available in mid-June at €630 per tonne delivered Poland.
“The Polish zloty is back in a strong position again. This usually makes imports more competitive,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.
According to the online currency converter Oanda.com, €1 was exchanged for 4.31 Polish zloty on Friday. But at the beginning of last week, the zloty was weaker, trading at 4.38 Polish zloty for €1 on June 17.
If the Polish zloty continues to appreciate, the exchange rate will support imports and can put some downward pressure on local rebar prices in the future, sources told Fastmarkets.
Moreover, market participants shared mixed views about local demand for rebar.
“Demand has picked up since the beginning of June,” a second distributor source told Fastmarkets.
The first distributor source, however, said that their sales have been moderate.
