While some mills have reopened following their summer holiday breaks, other mills will return only by the beginning of September, market sources said.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Italy, was €610-630 ($679-702) per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward week on week from €620-630 per tonne.
Minimal activity in the construction sector resulted in poor demand, which in turn resulted in small price declines in the Italian rebar market.
Market participants forecast that activity would begin to pick up in September when the market reopened after the summer absences.
“The downtrend we had before the summer holidays seems to go on, and now we have no signals from mills of a new price increase. Demand remains low but we hope that, next week, when all customers open [for business], the market will wake up,” a buyer source from the region said.
“The market is still very weak, but activity is picking up very calmly,” a producer source said.
“I think that this week will be quiet while construction sites slowly resume work,” a second buyer source said.
Meanwhile, scrap prices have continued to fall since the beginning of the month due to a recent downturn in prices for Asia-origin billet imports.
This has in turn lowered feedstock costs for European long steel mills.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey, was $361.15 per tonne on Wednesday. This was up by $5.99 per tonne week on week, but down by $22.50 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Spain, was €630-640 per tonne on Wednesday, down week on week by €10-15 per tonne from €645-650 per tonne.
Tradeable values for small volumes were reported by market participants in the Spanish market at €630 per tonne. There was minimal demand, however, especially for large quantities.
Southern Europe wire rod
Meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was €625-640 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged since June 12.
European mills have been keeping prices stable in the Southern Europe wire rod market, trade sources said. But small decreases could be expected when the mills reopen after the summer closures, Fastmarkets heard.
“Mills have rolled-over prices for the summer break,” a wire rod producer source said. “However, I think we could start to see offers for September that are €10-15 [per tonne] lower than current prices.”
Published by: India-Inés Levy
