The Italian rebar market is still characterized by a lack of brilliance, with prices falling and demand weak. However, there have been some maneuvres in the market aimed at providing support for price levels. In the latest such move, some of the principal northern Italian mills have suspended sales effective from this week, hoping thus to give fresh momentum to rebar price levels which have been sliding for weeks now. At the moment, it is not known when the steelmakers in question will resume normal sales activity.
With regard to quotations, base levels are currently around €270-280/mt ($362-376/mt) - a level similar to that for imports. Compared to the peaks reached in April, the total extent of the price drop has reached €80/mt ($107/mt).
This decline in quotations is due to three main factors. In first place, there has been a slackening off in consumption which for a few weeks now has been less lively than in the recent past. Moreover, demand is inferior to supply at present. In second place, there has been a slowdown in apparent demand. In the first quarter of the current year, the favorable weather conditions caused buyers to make their purchases earlier than they normally would, with the result that demand has been less impressive in the months traditionally favorable for the consumption of rebar. Finally, the psychological effect of the fall in quotations has impacted on traders and end-users, causing them to delay their purchases. This has resulted in the contraction in sales prices which has continued since the month of April.
In recent days, however, the Italian steel mills have switched to the counterattack, in particular seeking to maintain price levels by announcing higher quotations. This maneuvre, however, has not produced the desired results, and now some of the main producers have decided to suspend sales in Italy in order to give some oxygen to quotation levels. A few weeks will be required in order to be able to evaluate the effect of this move.