After five months of a continuous rising trend, Italy's domestic rebar market has stabilized in recent days.
There are three factors behind this change. In the first place, the issue of domestic demand; the high levels of quotations, the bad weather that has weighed upon the country in the past few weeks and the difficult financial situation of end-users have all contributed to a slowdown in demand on the part of builders, with the result that demand is now lower than the norms for the season. In second place, the drop in scrap prices at the start of the current month meant that producers were unable to obtain their targeted price increases. Finally, the slight relaxation of demand from abroad has resulted in a greater availability of rebar in the domestic market in Italy.
As regards the near future, the predictions of market players vary somewhat. While most are expecting stability with possible downward adjustments of rebar quotations, others are of the view that the continuing upward pressure on prices in the international markets is bound to have an impact on the market in Italy.