Another price drop has been seen this week in the Romanian longs market since negative factors have persisted. As a result of the substantial shortage of demand and full stockpiles, the sole Romanian producer and local traders have chosen to considerably lower their prices. However, according to market players, business operations have not improved.
“The situation is terrible and prices are going down constantly without any corresponding increase in demand from customers.” a trader told SteelOrbis
According to reports, the sole rebar producer in Romania has slashed its rebar offers to €570/mt ex-works this week, from €630/mt ex-works before. Similarly, Romanian traders have cut their prices for rebar from €620-640/mt ex-warehouse to about €580-600/mt ex-warehouse, while some suppliers have made aggressive offers at €560-570/mt ex-warehouse in hopes of attracting more consumers.
On the other hand, the same unfavorable decreasing trend is being witnessed in wire rod segments, with traders currently giving offers at €570-600/mt ex-warehouse, whereas the previous offers were at around €610-640/mt ex-warehouse.
In the import segment, once more the lack of interest from Romanian traders has continued mainly due to full stocks and extremely low demand. Nevertheless, SteelOrbis has learned that some traders who need to replenish their inventories are purchasing a limited amount of tonnage from countries close to Romania because of shorter delivery times and the cheaper cost of delivery.
“For imports, interest is minimal even if restocking is needed. Most trade is done door to door, which is easier and cheaper,” one trader told SteelOrbis
Recently, offers for rebar from Moldova have dropped by €20/mt to €590-600/mt CPT, while those from Bulgaria have fallen by €10/mt to €610/mt CPT. In addition, for wire rod, Italian suppliers have offered at €545-560/mt FCA and the projected transport cost to Romania is €40/mt from Italy, and so Romanian buyers could consider €585-600/mt for wire rod on delivered basis.