According to market sources, in the Italian domestic market local producers' prices for 12-28 mm rebar have decreased by €10/mt ($11/mt) compared to the last week of February to €405/mt ($429/mt) ex-works. The domestic rebar market has continued to be very quiet in terms of demand, though some market players foresee an improvement in construction activity.
Meanwhile, local Italian scrap prices have declined by €5/mt ($5,3/mt) in the past week, in contrast with the recent trend of transaction prices in the Turkish import scrap market. Sources interviewed by SteelOrbis are inclined to think that scrap prices will not indicate any further significant decline in Italy, and that there will not be much room for further decreases in local rebar prices in the coming period.
As for the export market, activity is also on the quiet side, though Italian producers have received some inquiries and have good order books for March. Some producers have started to accept orders for April shipments. Italian producers' export prices have recently mostly been in the range of €405-410/mt ($429-435/mt) FOB, while no one seems willing to grant prices under €410/mt ($435/mt) for the month of April.
€1 = $1.06