Steel rebar prices in the Italian domestic market continued on an upward trajectory in the week to Wednesday August 6, supported by limited supply and seasonally good demand.
Italian producers were going into a traditional maintenance period and were expected to restart operations by the end of August. In these conditions, insufficient material was available to cover increased buyer interest.
“Steel prices are rising compared with July. End-customer demand remains above historic averages, although it is highly fragmented,” one buy-side source said. “In response to this situation, steel mills have increased their quotations over the past month, driven by strong demand and a shortage of available material.
“There is a real ‘race’ to secure supplies, with mills reluctant to sell in order to avoid worsening their own position,” he added.
In the north of Italy, deals reached €570-590 ($664-687) per tonne ex-works. In southern areas, no new transactions were reported, but traditionally prices there were around €30 per tonne higher, according to market participants’ estimates.
New indications from mills were heard around €600 per tonne ex-works in the north and €620 per tonne in the south.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Italy, rose to €570-610 per tonne ex-works on August 6, from €550-590 per tonne on July 30.
