In the Italian domestic market, demand for merchant bar has remained at low levels during the past week. Following the rising trend in recent months, prices are now softening and have lost at least €20/mt ($23/mt) since late May.
Italian producers' base prices are now mainly standing in the range of €60-70/mt ($68-79/mt) ex-works, with some prices of up to €75/mt ($85/mt) ex-works also observed (*see the note below on extras). The increasing trend recorded since March was not supported by the market fundamentals and so market players are not surprised by this downtrend of prices and their forecasts for the coming period are for further decreases both in demand and prices.
On the export side, Italian producers' offers for the German market are the same as their local market offers, while their offers for the Middle East are a little lower.
*In the Italian market, price extras can vary in the range of €410-610/mt ($463-689/mt) for domestic sales and in the range of €410-620/mt ($463-701/mt ) for foreign markets, depending on dimension and product.
€1 = $1.13