Polish wire rod buyers resist higher offers

Steel wire rod producers in Poland increased their offers in the week to Friday March 24, while buyers were reluctant to accept higher prices, citing weak end-use demand, sources told Fastmarkets.
Polish producers were said to be aiming for increases of €20-30 ($22-33) per tonne for April-production wire rod, but weak demand was seen as a major obstacle.

“The market probably won’t accept an increase; demand is still weak. I think for April it is likely be a rollover or maximum [increase of] €10 per tonne,” a trading source said.

Offers from Polish mills were reported at 3,400 zloty ($790) per tonne CPT for March-rolling wire rod, while indications for April were reported at 3,500-3,550 zloty per tonne CPT.

Producers, for their part, said that an increase was absolutely necessary due to increasing raw material costs.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 3,400 zloty per tonne on Friday, unchanged from March 17.

The assessment was a reflection of rare deals and market sources’ estimates of achievable prices.

Demand for wire rod was still low Poland, which was the main obstacle for an increase in prices. But sources do expect to see some pick-up in activity in April, when the construction season should begin.

Import wire rod offers remained limited in Poland during the assessment week.

An integrated Ukrainian mill was offering April-May delivery wire rod to Poland at €680 per tonne DAP border, which would be equivalent to €705-710 per tonne CPT.

Italian mills were still out of the market this week.

Another Ukrainian mill was offering mesh-quality wire rod from stock to Poland at €720-730 per tonne CPT.

Published by: Julia Bolotova