Last week, Italian rebar producers informed their customers of an increase of €20-30/mt ($22-33/mt)from the previous prices, starting with April deliveries. Until last week, all orders were transacted at the previous prices, i.e., at around €405/mt (437$/mt) ex-works, but local producers decided to raise them due to a slight recovery in local scrap prices and because of their need to bring prices from very low levels back up to what they consider to be reasonable levels. They appear quite determined not to retreat from the new price levels in spite of the persisting low demand. New rebar domestic prices stand at €425-435/mt ($459-470/mt) ex-works, but for the moment no orders have been concluded at these levels.
Once again, the situation looks a little brighter in the export market. Despite Algerian customers having bought large volumes in the past three months, their demand for Italian rebar continues to be decent. The most recent orders for the month of April were transacted by Italian producers at €415/mt (448$/mt) FOB, while at least one Italian producer is now offering rebar at €420/mt (454$/mt)FOB for May deliveries.
€1 = $1.08