Rebar
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,630-2,650 zloty ($637-642) per tonne on Friday, unchanged since August 18.
Sources reported an offer from one local producer at 2,650 zloty per tonne CPT, which would be equivalent to about 2,630 zloty per tonne ex-works.
Another mill in the country was hoping to achieve slightly higher prices of 2,680-2,700 zloty per tonne CPT, which would net back to about 2,650-2,680 zloty per tonne ex-works.
There was still limited trading in the Polish rebar market, and sources had low expectations of a price rebound in September.
“Demand [for rebar] is low and there will not be many chances for any pick-up this year. The construction sector is very weak – there are no new projects,” a trading source said.
Local producers were reported to be trimming output to balance supply and demand, but industry sources doubted that this would help to keep prices up.
“Mills can try to intimidate the market with output cuts, but I don’t think they will be successful in the end. There is no demand [from end-users],” a second trader said.
In the secondary market, rebar prices were reported at 2,700- 2,750 zloty per tonne CPT, largely flat week on week.
Wire rod
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, was 2,750-2,800 zloty per tonne on Friday, stable week-on-week.
The assessment was based on a few deals reported at 2,750-2,760 zloty per tonne CPT and offers from local mills heard at 2,800 zloty per tonne CPT.
Sources said that producers in Poland were considering raising their offer prices for September, but nothing has been announced officially yet.
Market participants believed that there was no room for any price rise in the wire rod market, given persistently poor demand.
Import wire rod offers to Poland were limited by vacation absences. European suppliers were expected to come back to the market with new offers next week.
One Ukrainian supplier was offering mesh-quality wire rod at €570-585 ($618-634) per tonne from stock, depending on tonnage.
At the same time, one source said that another Ukrainian supplier was offering wire rod around €530 per tonne DAP, which would net back to about €560-565 per tonne CPT.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
