Prices for Polish rebar inch lower amid poor trading
Fastmarkets’ weekly assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland — which has been falling since July 19 — reached 2,600-2,640 zloty ($669-679) per tonne on Friday, down by 10-20 zloty per tonne from 2,610-2,660 zloty per tonne on September 6.
A local producer offered rebar to many Polish steel traders at 2,600 zloty per tonne CPT, sources told Fastmarkets. This urged other mills in the country to adjust their offers to similar price levels.
Buyers estimated the tradeable market level at 2,600-2,640 zloty per tonne CPT, depending on tonnages.
Lower scrap prices on the Polish market were also among the reasons for the decreasing rebar prices, Fastmarkets understands.
Scrap prices in September contracts decreased by 90-110 zloty per tonne, a distributor source said.
“Consumers in Poland are aware of these developments, and when the local mills try to offer higher prices, they do not accept these offers,” the source added. “No one is buying huge volumes now due to the decreasing rebar prices.”
Competitive imports also put additional pressure on domestic prices.
German material was heard offered to Poland at €610-615 ($673-679) per tonne CPT. For deliveries close to the border with Germany, the price could drop to €605 per tonne CPT, sources told Fastmarkets.
Offers for November-delivery rebar from Ukraine were heard recently at €570 per tonne DAP border for material with 10-32 mm diameter, which nets back to €600 per tonne CPT.
According to a second distributor source, slow demand, combined with strong competition from imports, will continue to put downward pressure on Polish rebar prices.
Interpipe tests rail deliveries via Poland
Ukraine’s Interpipe is testing a new logistics route for delivering products to EU countries using rail and road transport, in particular through a terminal in Poland, the company confirms to Kallanish.
“Interpipe is currently carrying out test shipments of pipes by rail cars to a terminal with a wide-gauge rail track in the polish city of Chelm,” the company’s procurement and logistics director, Oleksiy Yanovsky, tells Ukraine’s Centre for Transport Strategies (CFTS). “The products are then reloaded into trucks and delivered to their final destination in Europe.”
Interpipe has also very carefully studied the possibility of using the Danube for deliveries to EU countries. “However, unfortunately, the current level of service does not allow it to compete with direct road transport either from an economic point of view or from the point of view of transit time,” he adds.
“This method is relatively economically justified, given the current level of rates for cars, but has a number of disadvantages, in particular, the issue of combating rust on the surface of pipes arises,” Yanovsky claims. “However, it is unlikely this method of delivery will be acceptable for railway products due to the extreme sensitivity of these products in storage and transportation conditions. For railway wheels and wheel pairs, direct road transport will probably remain the most appropriate method of delivery to customers in Europe.”
Earlier, Interpipe said it was trying to reach pre-war production levels through the development of its Interpipe Niko Tube product range (see Kallanish passim). Pre-war output was some 70,000 tonnes/month compared to 50,000 t/m today.
Interpipe produced almost 43,500t of rail wheels in January-June, a significant on-year increase (see Kallanish passim).
In 2023, it supplied 387,000t of pipe and 95,000t of railway products.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
Polish steel rebar prices inch downward on low demand, oversupply
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, was 2,680-2,730 zloty ($674-686) per tonne on Friday, widening downward by 20 zloty per tonne from 2,700-2,730 zloty per tonne the previous week.
Polish mills were heard to be hoping to achieve 2,750 zloty per tonne CPT, but lower offers at 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT were available in the market this week, sources told Fastmarkets.
Market participants estimated the tradeable market price at 2,680-2,730 zloty per tonne CPT.
According to some sources, even lower prices at 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne could be achieved for large volumes exceeding 1,000 tonnes. But these were not included in this week’s assessment because they were not in line with Fastmarkets’ methodology.
“Demand [in Poland] is currently… moderate, but there is oversupply in the market, and that is why the prices are going down,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.
According to a second distributor source, only the cut-and-bend sector in Poland was performing well at the moment, but demand in general remained low.
A producer source agreed that demand for rebar in the Polish market remained comparatively low, with the summer holiday period also having an effect.
“No significant changes are expected in August,” the producer source added.
In terms of any future developments in Polish rebar prices, the first distributor source said that, in summer, even significant price decreases would not revive the market.
“I am afraid that in September, when mills come back to the market, and demand is still not so good, there could be more price decreases,” the first distributor source said.
The same source added that more significant funding from the EU for infrastructure projects, which could eventually support the local demand for rebar, would come no earlier than next year.
In terms of imports, offers of rebar from Germany were heard at €625-635 ($675-686) per tonne CPT.
Ukrainian material was offered to Poland at €570-580 per tonne DAP border, sources told Fastmarkets.
Kametstal to offer new rebar grade to Polish market
Kametstal, a subsidiary of Ukrainian steel producer Metinvest, has received international compliance certificate No. 020-UWB-3057/W, which will allow it to supply B500B rebar in diameters of 8-32mm to the Polish market, the company has announced. The certificate will be valid until 2028.
This means that Kametstal will be able to expand its product portfolio in Poland.
According to Fastmarkets’ sources, the first volumes of this material have already been traded in the Polish market.
ArcelorMittal Poland eyes two BF operation following restart
ArcelorMittal Poland (AMP) has completed the revamp of its Dabrowa Gornicza plant’s blast furnace no.2 and blown the unit in, the firm says.
The work, which began at the end of March, included the replacement of the furnace hearth refractory lining as well as the construction of a new cooling system and modern gas treatment plant. It will result in the reduction of 45,000 tonnes/year of CO2 emissions. Moreover, electricity consumption has been lowered nearly 400 MWh per year and over 18,000t of dust are recycled and reused in the steelmaking process.
The firm tells Kallanish it now plans to operate both blast furnaces at Dabrowa Gornicza and has no intention of idling either one. BF3 was restarted in January, following its idling last September due to weak demand, in preparation for the shutdown of BF2 for revamping, which cost PLN 720 million ($167m).
AMP saw crude steel production fall 15% on-year in 2022 to 3.4 million tonnes, thereby dropping below 2020-pandemic output of 3.9mt.
Adam Smith Poland
Steel rebar, wire rod prices stable in Poland amid lack of activity
Rebar
The most recent rebar offers from three local producers were heard at 2,660-2,680 zloty ($656-661) per tonne CPT (about 2,630-2,650 zloty per tonne ex-works), while estimates of workable prices were in the range of 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage.
No fresh bookings had been heard by the time of publication.
Consequently, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne on August 11, stable week on week.
Wire rod
Recent offers from local steelmakers of low-carbon, drawing-quality wire rod were reported at 2,800-2,900 zloty per tonne CPT, unchanged since late July, but the upper end of that range was considered unworkable by most customers.
Workable prices were estimated to be around 2,750 zloty per tonne CPT, with some deals from a key producer heard at this price.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, was 2,750-2,800 zloty per tonne on August 11, unchanged over the past month.
Offers of wire rod imports into Poland were also limited in the assessment week, with European mills out of the market for maintenance work or other stoppages.
Ukraine-origin mesh-quality wire rod was heard to be available at €600-610 ($660-671) per tonne CPT, depending on the supplier.
Published by: Vlada Novokreshchenova
Seasonal slowdown keeps Polish rebar prices flat; market hoping for demand rebound in September
Rebar offers from three local producers were broadly stable week on week at 2,660-2,680 zloty ($653-658) per tonne CPT (about 2,630-2,650 zloty per tonne EXW).
Transactions were scarce, however, with tradable values reported at 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage. Mills in the region were able to offer rebar from stock with quick shipment, market sources said.
Sources said they expect rebar prices to stabilize in the coming weeks and were cautiously optimistic about a pick-up of construction activity in the residential sub-sector in September.
“Demand is still weak, partially due to the vacation season, but also because construction activity is still very slow. The only hope is that new construction projects will start from September and boost demand for rebar,” a trader in Poland said, with the Polish government launching a support program for the nation’s “first home buyers,” offering housing loans with a fixed 2% interest rate over 10 years, with the difference to the actual interest rate covered by the state.
That program, available for young people only for their first house or apartment purchase, is supposed to stimulate residential construction, sources said.
“Right now there are so many applications… for this kind of mortgage, the banks cannot cope, a second trader source said.
“In the past six months or so, there have been very few residential projects in Poland, so soon there could be a shortage of apartments,” the trader added.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne on Friday, stable week on week.
In the secondary market, rebar prices were reported at 2,750 zloty per tonne CPT, also stable week on week.
Imported rebar offers to Poland were scarce due to the seasonal summer slowdown.
A Ukrainian supplier was offering rebar for September delivery, however, at €570 ($623) per tonne DAP border (about €600 per tonne CPT).
And Moldovan rebar was on offer in Poland at €610 per tonne CPT.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
