The fact that two mills in the region revised their costs for extras, amid increased production costs, was the key reason for the uptick in prices.
Extras normally remain stable for years, and are added to the base price, which is normally liquid. But the extras on rebar were increased this week by the two producers by €10-30 ($12-35) per tonne, depending on the diameter, according to documents seen be Fastmarkets.
The average extra cost on rebar in diameters 8-32mm was currently slightly above €272 per tonne, while the base price from both suppliers was said to be €370 per tonne. This would give a total of €642 ($749) per tonne as an initial effective offer price on a delivered basis, according to market sources.
Basic prices are normally negotiable, but some sources on the customers’ side said that the new asking prices were workable although no new bookings had been heard by the time of publication.
A seller source, meanwhile, estimated workable prices in Germany and Belgium at €630-635 per tonne delivered, versus €620-625 per tonne delivered at the end of July.
While prices from local producers within the region increased, most recent offers of Polish rebar into Germany were heard at €610-615 per tonne delivered. This was stable week on week, but up from €600-610 per tonne at the end of July.
The price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, trended consistently downward in July, with no supportive demand.
Consequently, Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment of the price for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, widened upward to €600-635 per tonne on August 13 from €600-630 per tonne on August 6.
No Italian rebar offers were heard in Northern Europe, nor in the domestic Italian sector, where most market participants were on holiday or taking a maintenance break.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Italy, was €570-610 per tonne on August 13, stable week on week.
But a North European source said that the rise in extras in the northern region could trigger a revision of extras by Italian mills after the holidays.
