Rebar prices in Italy continue to move on upward trajectory amid reported limited availability of the material from local suppliers on Thursday November 27.
“The current environment is characterized by a significant shortage of inventory at steel mills, a factor that inevitably impacts the ability to easily withdraw large quantities of material. This limited availability is supporting the maintenance of price levels. We believe this situation is prompting some operators to take advantage of the situation to exert upward pressure on price levels” one buyer source said.
Another buyer source said that upward price movements were mainly due to the fact that mills were trying to improve their earnings before the end of the year, while demand is moderate.
“The demand is so so, November is not an unforgettable selling month. Winter is arriving, and customers don’t want to fill their stocks. Maybe the price increase and the limited availability are due to Pittini’s incident, but I’m informed that the problem is now fished, and they have restarted production,” the source said.
Pittini Group’s flagship Ferriere Nord long steel plant at Osoppo in northeastern Italy was damaged by a fire in late October, which led to the shutdown of the facility’s electric-arc furnace (EAF).
A source at the mill confirmed that the equipment is fixed. “If everything works, we should be able to restart this week,” they told Fastmarkets on Wednesday November 26.
The most recent offers of 8-40 mm bars from local suppliers came at €595-600(689-695) per tonne ex- works.
Nevertheless, bookings were heard in the wide range of €550-585 per tonne ex-works, depending on the region. Low end prices traditionally refer to the north of the country, while upper end levels to the south.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Italy was €550-585 per tonne on Wednesday, up from €540-570 per tonne on November 19 and from €540-560 per tonne on November 5.
