Sülzle Stahlpartner launches carbon-reduced rebar brand

German rebar distribution and bending group Sülzle Stahlpartner has introduced a carbon-reduced product line named STOOX PCF Steel, validated by auditing organisation TÜV.

According to a company spokesman, the move follows increasing inquiries from construction projects, especially in the public sector. Stoox will already be used in an ongoing project, the construction of the U5 underground train line in Hamburg, to which Sülzle is delivering pre-fabricated, custom-made reinforcement cages.

Sülzle claims that Stoox has an average carbon footprint of less than 400kg CO2 equivalent per tonne, undercutting the original target of 500kg CO2e/tonne, as is requested by the awarding authority.

Sülzle appears to be the first German distributor of rebar to announce such a label. It became a member of the Responsible Steel movement one year ago. “We are certainly the first company to have the entire process for determining the product carbon footprint backed by a TÜV certification,” the spokesman tells Kallanish.

Sülzle receives its rebar from various mills that document the carbon footprint of their production; the TÜV certificate also covers the subsequent logistics and fabrication, the spokesman explains.

Hamburg’s ARGE U5 project, a joint venture between Ed. Züblin AG and Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG, is meant to be a lighthouse project for environmentally sound construction. It aims to reduce conventional CO2 emissions during the U5 construction by 70%.

Christian Koehl Germany

kallanish.com

Northern European steel mills cut rebar output to rebalance supply-demand

Low consumption by the construction sector continued to inhibit trading in the Northern European markets for steel wire rod and rebar in the week to Wednesday January 29, Fastmarkets heard.

Many mills in Northern Europe have paused rebar production until March in an attempt to rebalance supply-demand dynamics given the persistently poor demand and high input costs, market sources said.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was €620-640 ($646-667) per tonne on Wednesday, down week on week by €5 per tonne from €625-645 per tonne.

Prices remained broadly stable in the Northern European rebar market, with offers reported around €630-640 per tonne while deals were reported more frequently around €620 per tonne, sources said.

Demand was reported to be subdued following restarts after the Christmas break.

“Most people bought material before Christmas and are now waiting to receive it, so there is not much demand. Most buying is hand-to-mouth, and no one is interested in imports now,” a buyer source told Fastmarkets.

“The outlook is that the market is waiting for prices to possibly increase, because production stoppages limit available capacity and encourage price rises,” he said.

Steel mills cannot reduce prices because of the rocketing costs for gas and electricity, market sources said.

Import offers for rebar into Northern Europe have been scarce due to the long timelines, slow demand and prices that were not significantly lower than the domestic prices currently available, market sources said.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, was €600-620 per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward by €10 per tonne from €610-620 per tonne last week.

Wire rod producers in Northern Europe reported deals at €600-620 per tonne.

Published by: India-Inés Levy

German rebar prices inch up

German mills are having a tough time achieving the intended rebar price hikes they announced before the Christmas break.

After order books were filled at base prices not exceeding €360/tonne ($375/t), in addition to size extras bringing prices to €625/t delivered, mills had targeted €400/t for new orders.

“That was pretty ambitious,” one buyer finds. “Currently, €380/t is the word, meaning mills achieve a plus of €15-20/t.”

This would be fairly in line with the price hike of €25/t announced recently by ArcelorMittal for long products in Europe (see Kallanish 14 January). While the group owns no rebar plants in Germany, the increase has been heard by German buyers.

“You do hear of those hike attempt by €20-25/t from all sides,” a northern German manager confirms. He, too, gives €380/t as a realistic base price for transactions.

Market activity is low, all players say. Some note the impact of the three-month stoppage of the liquid phase at Riva’s Hennigsdorf works, with staff on short working hours during the period.

“I guess they have sufficient billet in stock to roll for incoming orders,” one manager says. He suggests the stoppage might have the intention to help reduce oversupply. “In any case, the stoppage helps to stabilise the price,” he tells Kallanish.

Another stockholder informs customers that supplies from Riva would in any case be guaranteed from its French mills, but also recommends that orders be placed in time, in anticipation of longer lead times.

Christian Koehl Germany

kallanish.com

Polish domestic rebar, wire rod prices increase on higher offers

Polish domestic rebar and wire rod prices edged up during the assessment week to Friday January 17 amid higher offers from producers, sources told Fastmarkets.

Mills in Poland have been attempting to raise prices for long steel products since the beginning of December in an effort offset high production costs, especially high energy prices, but sluggish demand has hindered a more significant price rebound, Fastmarkets understands.

ArcelorMittal, which is among the key suppliers of long steel products in Poland, recently announced a €25 ($26) per tonne increase for all long-steel products across Europe.

Rebar
Polish mills were heard offering rebar at 2,600-2,650 zloty ($628-640) per tonne during the assessment week.

Considering ArcelorMittal’s latest price increase, offers for February production rebar were expected to increase by 100 zloty per tonne, sources said, but it remains to be seen if such levels would be sealed in deals.

Offers at 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne CPT have been largely available in the Polish market since the beginning of December, with local mills trying to overcome the low levels from October and November deals.

Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland averaged 2,525 zloty per tonne in October and 2,516.25 zloty per tonne in November — 2024’s lowest levels.

The assessment stood at 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening upward by 40 zloty per tonne from 2,600-2,610 zloty per tonne a week earlier.

Although buyers were reluctant to accept the higher offers in December, producers appear to have been successful in pushing their targeted price level in January.

A producer source told Fastmarkets that they were completely booked for January, with tradeable levels reported at 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne CPT.

Buyers’ estimations for the workable market level were slightly lower, at 2,600-2,610 zloty per tonne CPT.

But demand for rebar in Poland remained weak and no significant price rebound could be expected, sources said.

Rebar was heard traded at 2,650-2,700 zloty per tonne CPT in the secondary market.

Offers for Germany-origin rebar dame in at €620 per tonne delivered.

Ukraine was heard offering March-delivery material to Poland at €550-560 per tonne delivered in the border.

Wire rod
Polish mills have also been trying to increase offers for low-carbon drawing quality wire rod, Fastmarkets heard.

Local producers were offering the material at 2,700 zloty per tonne CPT. The offer prices were expected to reach 2,800 zloty per tonne CPT after the latest price increase, although it was still unclear if such a level would be accepted by customers.

Demand, however, remained low during the assessment week, with no signs of restocking.

Fastmarkets sources estimated the workable market level at 2,640-2,730 zloty per tonne CPT.

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland was 2,640-2,700 zloty per tonne on Friday, narrowing upward by 40 zloty per tonne from 2,600-2,700 zloty per tonne a week earlier.

Italy was heard offering low-carbon drawing quality wire rod to Poland at €630-660 per tonne delivered, which is €10 per tonne higher compared to similar import offers from the beginning of December.

Published by: Darina Kahramanova

Polish rebar prices inch up on limited availability

Domestic prices for steel rebar in Poland increased slightly in the week to Friday January 10 on limited availability, industry sources have told Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, was 2,600-2,610 zloty per tonne ($627-630) on Friday, narrowing upward by 20 zloty per tonne from 2,580-2,610 zloty per tonne a week earlier.

Polish mills were heard offering rebar at 2,610-2,650 zloty per tonne CPT, but buyers did not consider the upper end of that price range to be workable, Fastmarkets heard.

According to industry sources, Polish mills were not willing to give significant discounts, with the workable market price estimated at 2,600-2,610 zloty per tonne CPT.

The Polish rebar market has not fully restarted after the winter holiday break, and no major deals were heard in the assessment week.

Some deals for large volumes exceeding 1,000 tonnes were heard at the end of December at 2,550-2,570 zloty per tonne CPT. But these prices were not included in the assessment because they were not in line with Fastmarkets’ methodology.

A trader source told Fastmarkets that such prices could not be considered indicative of the market because, due to the tonnages, individual prices were negotiated.

According to industry sources, the slight price increase for Polish rebar was due to the limited availability of material during the assessment week.

“Demand is not great. The only reason prices have not started to fall is the restricted quantities available from mills,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.

The source added that one Polish mill was trying to produce less rebar than normal. “They are inventing stoppages and trying to transition from three to two working shifts,” the distributor said.

According to the same source, prices will start to fall again by the end of January, when more competitive imports were expected to begin arriving at the country’s warehouses.

The trader source also confirmed that limited imports recently had supported the domestic rebar prices.

“In December, there were not [many import] offers from Italy and Germany,” the trader source said, adding that the good weather conditions were also favorable for the construction sector – the main consumer of rebar. All these factors supported domestic prices.

In terms of imports, Germany has been heard offering rebar to Poland at €605 ($623) per tonne delivered since the beginning of 2025.

Offers from Ukraine were heard at €530-550 per tonne delivered at the border.

Long steel consumption ‘below historic levels’
Long steel consumption in Europe has been substantially below historic levels, steel manufacturer CMC, which is present in Poland, said in its report for the fiscal first quarter of 2025 (September-November 2024) on January 6.

“The beneficial effects of improving Polish demand in certain end-market applications, and regional supply discipline, have been largely offset by increased import flows from neighboring nations that have sought an outlet for product not consumed within their home markets,” CMC said.

Last year, Germany significantly increased its rebar exports to neighboring countries to compensate for the lack of activity in its domestic construction sector.

Europe Steel Group, representing CMC’s operations in Europe, recorded net sales of $209.4 million during its fiscal first quarter. This was a decrease of 5.7% compared with the previous quarter’s $222.1 million.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were $25.8 million for the first fiscal quarter. But the positive financial result was due to an annual CO2 credit associated with a government program, CMC said.

“Excluding this credit,” the company added, “financial results deteriorated modestly compared with the prior two quarters (EBITDA losses of $3.6 million and $4.2 million respectively) due to metal margin compression driven by high import volumes.”

Published by: Darina Kahramanova

Italian rebar prices tick up further despite quiet

Some Italian rebar producers are initiating discussions regarding a potential price increase of approximately €20/tonne ($20.6) for deliveries in January, effective next week, Kallanish hears.

Mills previously raised values in December, just before temporarily shutting down their operations for the year-end holiday break. Since then, January asking prices have been at €340/t base ex-works. This compares with €320/t base ex-works earlier in December, which was also achieved in transactions.

Current transaction volume is limited, as buyers are exhibiting a cautious approach, opting to observe market conditions before making commitments. Two buyers, however, say they need to purchase this week.

A few contracts are reported to have been concluded at the base ex-works price of €330/t. A number of buyers are sceptical about the feasibility of an additional €20/t increase, as the €360/t threshold appears unsustainable given the current weak utilisation and pricing dynamics downstream.

Current transactions are priced at €590/t ex-works, including size extras averaging at approximately €260/t. Domestic mesh contracts are also increasing to €430/t, excluding transportation costs – size extras are an additional €300/t, according to sources.

Subdued sales activity continues this week. A rebar seller anticipates the price range of €330-340/t will consolidate next week before contract values progressively rise to a base of €360/t ex-works.

Natalia Capra France

kallanish.com

Prices rise in Northern European rebar market; wire rod prices stable

Steel rebar prices increased in the Northern European market during the week to Wednesday January 8, while wire rod prices remained stable, Fastmarkets heard.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was €640-645 ($661-666) per tonne on Wednesday, narrowing upward by €30 per tonne from €610-645 per tonne week on week.

Mills raised their rebar offer prices in Northern European after reopening following Christmas closures. The market largely accepted these price rises, Fastmarkets heard.

Meanwhile, international scrap prices edged downward on a weekly basis but increased month on month, Fastmarkets heard.

Fastmarkets’ calculation of its daily index for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), North Europe origin, cfr Turkey was $338.31 per tonne on Wednesday, down from $348.12 per tonne a week earlier and up from $325.00 per tonne a month ago.

The corresponding Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe was at €610-620 per tonne, stable week on week.

Published by: India-Inés Levy

Italian rebar makers push up prices

Several Italian rebar producers are halting sales and seeking a €20/tonne ($20.8) increase for deliveries scheduled in January. Mills have already increased values this month and will continue to deliver material until the end of this week, Kallanish notes.

Current quotes from producers are positioned at €320/t base ex-works, applicable for orders delivered by the end of this month. For contracts executed in January, asking prices are set at €340-350/t base ex-works. This indicates a significant rise from the November asking price of €300/t base ex-works.

Current transactions, for December delivery, are positioned within the €300-320/t base ex-works range. A number of rebar mills are going to cease operations by the end of this week, with some having already suspended their facilities. Activity will resume on 7 January.

Current transactions are priced within the €560-580/t ex-works range, including size extras averaging approximately at €260/t. Domestic mesh contracts are at €410-420/t, excluding transportation costs – size extras are an additional €300/t, according to sources.

Natalia Capra France

kallanish.com

US extends rebar AD order on 7 nations, including Poland and Latvia

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled that antidumping duties on imports of rebar from seven nations should not be removed, Kallanish discovers in a federal document.

“Revocation of the antidumping duty orders on rebar from Belarus, China, Indonesia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry in the United States within a reasonably foreseeable time,” the ITC writes in a notice circulated Thursday.

The latest determination is a result of a fourth round of five-year sunset reviews.

After the prior review in 2018, the Department of Commerce issued average dumping margins of 114.53% for Belarus, 133% for China, 71.01% for Indonesia, 16.99% for Latvia, 232.86% for Moldova, 52.07% for Poland and 41.69% for Ukraine. Commerce’s case originated in 2001.

The AD order includes all steel concrete reinforcing bars sold in straight lengths. Excluded are plain round bars and processed rebar that has been bent or coated.

Dom Yanchunas USA

kallanish.com

Polish rebar producers test market with higher prices

Polish mills announced new higher rebar offers for December/January production in an attempt to cover high output costs, industry sources told Fastmarkets on Friday December 6.

The new offer prices were reported to be at 2,580-2,600 zloty ($637-642) per tonne CPT, and in some cases even reaching 2,650 zloty per tonne CPT.

In comparison, at the start of November, Polish rebar was on offer at 2,550 zloty per tonne CPT. But mills in the nation were hungry for orders and agreed on some discounts.

As a result, prices in deals dropped to 2,530 zloty per tonne CPT, and for larger volumes of more than 1,000 tonnes, transactions were concluded at 2,500 zloty per tonne CPT.

“There is a very strong conviction among all [Polish] mills that such low prices are not acceptable,” a distributor source told Fastmarkets.

“Polish producers say that they are fully booked for December,” a second distributor source told Fastmarkets.

Local mills are planning long closures for the upcoming Christmas holidays, starting from the middle of December until January 6, 2025, the source added.

This is also expected to have some impact on Polish rebar availability, Fastmarkets understands.

The second distributor added that local mills had sold good volumes at the lower price levels over the past few weeks and no longer have a strong incentive to offer significant discounts.

No deals were heard at the new price levels.

“Buyers will wait to see what will happen in January,” the second distributor source said.

According to industry sources, some material for prompt delivery could still be negotiated at 2,550-2,570 zloty per tonne CPT.

One buyer source estimated the workable market level even lower at 2,500 zloty per tonne CPT.

Reflecting the new higher offers and buyers’ estimations, Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, cpt Poland was 2,500-2,580 zloty per tonne on Friday, widening upward by 70 zloty per tonne from 2,500-2,510 zloty per tonne on November 29.

In terms of imports, no fresh offers for the first quarter of 2025 were heard in the Polish market.

Published by: Darina Kahramanova