Wire rod
The steel wire rod market in Poland was quiet in the week to Friday, with buyers reportedly postponing restocking amid weak end-user demand and downbeat expectations.
“Demand [for wire rod] is very low; there is no restocking — it’s quite the opposite,” a buyer source said.
One major supplier in Poland was heard planning a maintenance stoppage of 2.5 weeks for September.
But even news about potentially lower supply in the following weeks did not spur buying, sources said.
Offers for September-delivery rolling wire rod from domestic mills were reported at 2,800-2,850 ($726-739) zloty per tonne CPT on Friday, unchanged from the previous week.
But for large tonnages, it was possible to obtain 2,700-2,750 zloty per tonne CPT, sources said.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 2,700-2,800 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening downward by 50 zloty per tonne from 2,750-2,800 zloty per tonne on August 30.
Import offers were also unchanged week on week.
Drawing-quality wire rod offers from Italy to Poland were heard at €642-670 ($712-743) per tonne CPT, depending on the location.
From Ukraine and Moldova, offers for mesh-quality material were heard at €620 per tonne CPT. Similar offers were heard from a German supplier to Poland.
Rebar
The rebar market was also quiet in Poland, but order intake for cut-and-bend rebar was quite good, and cut-and-bender facilities in the country were not accepting orders for the second half of October, sources said.
Interest for straight rebar was lower from its main end-user sector because “construction companies want to get material as much processed as possible,” a source said.
Offers for rebar from two Polish mills were heard at 2,610-2,660 zloty per tonne CPT for lots “starting with 100-200 tonnes,” a second source said.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland was 2,610-2,660 zloty per tonne on Friday, down by 10-20 zloty per tonne from 2,630-2,670 zloty per tonne on August 30.
In the secondary market, prices for rebar from stock were heard at 2,680-2,730 zloty per tonne CPT, depending on the region.
Cheaper import offers were also dragging on Polish rebar prices, Fastmarkets understands. Notably, import offers of rebar from Germany to Poland were heard at €615-625 per tonne CPT.
From Ukraine, offers for November-delivery rebar were heard at €570 per tonne DAP border for material with 10-32 mm diameter, which nets back to €600 per tonne CPT. Extras for 8-mm-diameter material were reported at €10 per tonne.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
