Summer closures further slowed demand, sources said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €620-635 ($688-705) per tonne on Wednesday, stable week on week.
Mills remained resistant to offering price discounts, despite weak demand and falling feedstock costs, Fastmarkets heard.
Minimal large-tonnage trades were reported, with customers opting to restock small tonnages with short lead times, and mills were reported to be offering premium prices for these very small-volume trades, sources said.
“Prices are unchanged, and demand is depressed,” a trader source told Fastmarkets.
“Producers are trying to delay an imminent price reduction, and since clients tend to order only what is necessary, this results in orders with very short lead times,” a buyer source said.
The corresponding Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €615-650 per tonne, stable week on week.
Despite prices remaining flat, new lower offers were expected in the coming week, Fastmarkets heard.
“At the moment, there is still stability in the wire rod prices. There could be some speculation based on scrap values that have dropped in Turkey,” a wire rod producer source said.
There was uncertainty in the market regarding the direction of future scrap prices, Fastmarkets understands.
“We don’t know what the real Northern European September scrap price for bigger volumes will be and what the reaction of rolling mills will be, as industry margins are very low,” the producer source added.
Scrap prices were largely stable at low levels week on week. Prices have fallen since the beginning of August due to a downturn in Asia-origin billet import prices.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was $359.87 per tonne on Wednesday, down by $1.28 per tonne week on week and by $23.78 per tonne month on month.
