“Maybe the bottom has been reached,” - that is the feeling (and hope) of some players in the southern European longs market. Demand remains low, but the suppliers have started to receive more orders, and the producers are trying to keep prices steady or aim for rises.
In the local rebar market in Italy, several orders appear to have been concluded at €350-370/mt ex-works base (€615-635/mt ex-works including regular extras) in the past week, when prices were reported at around €375/mt ex-works base. Currently, some producers are trying to bring the price level back to €430/mt ex-works base (€695/mt ex-works including regular extras) to test the market and see what happens. Some sources believe that such an increase is a rather steep one and may not be accepted by the market after a long period of decline.
In the export segment, Italian rebar has been offered at €560/mt ex-works (plus transportation costs), or €590/mt delivered, stable from last week. Ex-Italy mesh quality wire rod, on the other hand, has been reported at €590-600/mt delivered in Europe, while drawing quality wire rod at €625/mt delivered in Europe. According to sources, mesh quality wire rod across Europe is being offered at €605-620/mt delivered, stable week on week, while drawing quality is at €620-630/mt delivered.
Ex-Greece offers have been reported at €610/mt FOB for rebar and €630/mt FOB for wire rod, while ex-Spain rebar offers seem to be at €600-610/mt CFR to the Baltic and €610/mt CIF UK with estimated freight of around €40-50/mt depending on tonnage and the destination. In addition, according to some sources, buyers’ price idea for Spanish rebar is at around €590/mt CFR from Belgium and the Netherlands, where some demand is said to be present these days.
However, the situation overall in the EU longs market still seems difficult: demand remains generally low, but within a “safe threshold,” though squeezing mills in a narrow gap between longs and scrap prices, which are not yet going below a certain level. “We’ll have to wait and see how the new European Union draft about the inclusion of India, Malaysia, Egypt and Indonesia in European quotas will affect the purchase of wire rod,” commented a source from an Italian steel mill. “And we’ll have to understand if the damage at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power dam in Ukraine will somehow change the ability of Ukrainian steel mills to deliver in the coming short term,” he added. In particular, as SteelOrbis has reported, Metinvest mills in Ukraine continue working in their previously normal mode, while ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, which had been sourcing water from the Kakhovka reservoir, has announces a stoppage of crude steel production and rolling operations. This situation may result in a certain number of pending orders.
In the import segment, ex-Egypt offers have been reported at $565-570/mt FOB for both rebar and wire rod, which means about €552-556/mt CFR southern Europe, stable from last week. Ex-Saudi Arabia wire rod offers are at €550-560/mt CFR European ports, while Malaysia is offering at $560/mt FOB with freight estimated at around $60/mt.