Italian rebar market remains subdued

Thursday, 19 January 2012 11:11:20 (GMT+2)

In the Italian rebar market, the €300/mt ($387/mt) ex-works base prices sought by producers at the end of the Christmas holidays failed to gain acceptance. Base quotations are currently at €280-290/mt ($361-374/mt) ex-works, but trading activity is still poor. 2012 has not seen a very positive start, and now market players are waiting for February as the month in which buyers should start making purchases.

While the situation remains uncertain in the domestic market, there is some consolation in the export markets, where rebar is sold by Italian producers at €525-530/mt ($677-684/mt) FOB. In particular, due to the weakening of the euro against the dollar, reasonable volumes of rebar have been sold in Algeria, although the stocks of local customers were already at high levels. It must be said, however, that Algerian buyers have purchased exclusively from Italy - not from Spain or Greece - and in light of this consideration the volumes in question were not exceptional at all. At the moment, there seems to be no further possibility of sales in the Algerian market.

Elsewhere the situation is hardly better, as the international rebar markets are quiet. Turkish producers have reduced their export offers to $660-665/mt FOB, but so far there have not been any transactions. In general, the international market continues to suffer from extremely volatile conditions and the uncertain economic situation.

€1 = $1.29