Polish rebar, wire rod prices increase on bullish sentiment among producers

Prices for Polish domestic rebar and wire rod increased in the week to Friday April 26 due to continuing bullish sentiment among producers, sources told Fastmarkets.

Local mills were determined to increase their prices due to higher scrap prices in international markets and higher electricity prices, producer sources said.

But demand remained low, and both buyer and producer sources were unsure whether the uptrend would persist. According to market participants, some production cuts would be the best way to balance the market.

Rebar
After ArcelorMittal increased its prices for all long steel products across Europe by €20 ($21.43) per tonne during the Wire and Tube fair in Dusseldorf, other Polish producers also raised their offer prices.

This week, Polish mills offered rebar in the range of 2,650-2,700 zloty ($657-669) per tonne CPT, which nets back to about 2,630-2,670 zloty per tonne ex-works, sources told Fastmarkets.

This is 30-50 zloty per tonne higher than in the previous week, when offers from local mills were mainly in the range of 2,620-2,650 zloty per tonne CPT, equivalent to about 2,600-2,630 zloty per tonne ex-works.

But Fastmarkets’ sources said that 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT was not a tradeable price.

According to market participants, workable prices were in the range of 2,620-2,650 zloty per tonne CPT, equivalent to 2,600-2,630 zloty per tonne ex-works.

Based on sources’ estimates and increased offers from local mills, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Poland was 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening upward by 20 zloty per tonne from 2,600-2,630 zloty per tonne on April 19.

Polish mills had sold good quantities at lower prices in previous weeks, so they could allow themselves to wait for buyers who would accept the new, higher prices, a distributor source told Fastmarkets.

“But no one is buying at 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT, which is indicative that this price is not workable,” the distributor source said.

A second distributor source expressed skepticism about whether the upward trend would last long.

“Mills will try to keep prices higher for two weeks, but when they see there is no demand, prices will drop again. Only the cut and bend companies have a lot of work in Poland,” the second distributor said.

Prices of imported rebar had also increased by about €10-15 per tonne this week, compared with the period before the Wire and Tube fair in Dusseldorf, sources told Fastmarkets.

For instance, imported rebar offers from Germany were heard at €640-647 per tonne delivered Poland.

Wire rod
At the beginning of the week, sources said that Polish mills had not yet announced their offers for May production of low-carbon drawing-quality wire rod.

On Friday, a consumer source reported an offer at 3,050 zloty per tonne CPT.

This was close to last week’s price range of 3,000-3,086 zloty per tonne CPT.

“Polish mills want to increase prices, and currently, there is no one selling at below 3,000 zloty per tonne CPT,” the consumer source told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ sources estimated tradeable prices in the range of 2,934-3,020 zloty per tonne CPT; no major deals were heard on the market.

As a result, Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 2,934-3,020 zloty per tonne on Friday, up by 70-134 zloty per tonne from 2,800-2,950 zloty per tonne on April 19.

“A price increase is necessary because scrap [prices have] recovered, and [it] seems [they] have found certain stability,” a second producer source said.

For instance, Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was calculated at $382.09 per tonne on Thursday April 25, its highest since April 3.

A similar trend was observed in Fastmarkets’ daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) US origin, cfr Turkey, which was calculated at $385.58 per tonne on Thursday, also its highest since April 3.

The second producer source added that the electricity day-ahead price in Poland surpassed €100 per MWh recently, which also affected production costs.

Published by: Darina Kahramanova

fastmarkets.com