The Romanian longs market has continued to move upward this week, with sellers keeping a firmer stance after the recent EU quota changes and ongoing CBAM-related uncertainty. However, demand remains slow and liquidity is still a problem, so both buyers and sellers are approaching the recent price increases cautiously. Compared to last week, buying activity has improved slightly, as some buyers have preferred to secure material before prices move up further, while sellers have also concluded some sales by offering discounts for prompt or advance payments and larger tonnages. Still, sources say the main question is whether the recent increases can be fully sustained under current market conditions, as traders testing the higher end of workable levels have not seen much interest so far.
“CBAM remains one of the main concerns for the local market. If the EU does not ease these measures or reduce the additional costs on non-EU material, many companies may struggle, as these costs cannot be fully reflected in final sales prices under the current demand conditions,” a Romanian trader told SteelOrbis.
In the local rebar spot market, prices have increased to around €640-650/mt ex-warehouse, compared to €620-640/mt ex-warehouse last week. However, lower levels of around €630-635/mt ex-warehouse are still heard for larger tonnages and advance payment terms, according to sources.
Domestic producer Beltrame Group has remained quiet this week, with its rebar offers still heard at around €635-640/mt ex-works, unchanged from last week. Market sources say business activity remains very limited, while material availability is also reported to be low.
In the wire rod segment, domestic prices have also increased to around €695-705/mt ex-warehouse, compared to €685-695/mt ex-warehouse last week. However, the increase has remained more limited compared to rebar, as buying interest for wire rod is still slower.
On the import side, no fresh deals have been heard so far this week, while offer levels have continued to move in different directions depending on the origin. In the EU segment, prices have remained firmer due to the recent cost-related concerns, while Romanian buyers are still cautious about new bookings as they already have stocks and demand remains slow. According to sources, Italian rebar offers are currently heard at around €665-670/mt CPT Romania. However, a previous large-tonnage deal from Italy had been heard at around €600/mt delivered to Romania a few weeks ago. Hungarian rebar offers are heard at around €660/mt delivered to Romania, while Hungarian rebar in coil offers have decreased to around €680-685/mt delivered, compared to €695/mt delivered last week. Meanwhile, Bulgarian rebar offers have increased to around €660-675/mt CPT Romania, compared to €650-660/mt CPT Romania last week.
On the non-EU import side, prices have moved down despite the firmer mood in the EU segment. Egyptian rebar offers are currently heard at around €535-550/mt CFR Romania, compared to €535-555/mt CFR Romania last week, while Egyptian wire rod offers have decreased to around €545-560/mt CFR Romania, down from €555-575/mt CFR Romania last week. Turkish rebar offers are also lower this week at around €515-530/mt CFR Romania, compared to €525-540/mt CFR Romania last week, based on an exchange rate of €1 = $1.14.
Author: SteelOrbis Editorial Team
