The southern European longs market is still struggling, with mills lacking the support needed from buyers in order to increase their prices. Longs sales to European destinations from Italy and Spain have also been slow, while competition with import offers from distant market has started to intensify.
In the local Italian rebar market, there appears to have been no movement since last week. Producers are asking for increases to around €320-330/mt ex-works base (€585-595/mt ex-works including regular extras), but confirmed orders are still at lower levels, at around €300/mt ex-works base (€565/mt ex-works including regular extras). It appears, however, that prices are not falling further, unlike wire rod, which has lost about €10/mt, settling at €580-590/mt delivered.
The export segment has also been sluggish, with tradable ex-Italy rebar prices still appearing to be at €550-560/mt FOB, although not much above €540-545/mt FOB is considered workable for now. Ex-Spain offers have been reported at around €570/mt FOB, down €10/mt week on week. In the wire rod segment, ex-Italy offers to Europe have been reported at €580/mt for mesh quality and €595-605/mt for drawing quality, both on delivered basis.
Import offers have generated some interest in the market, with Algeria offering wire rods at €590-600/mt CFR northwest EU. Ex-Egypt rebar and wire rod offers to the same part of Europe are at €600/mt CFR and at €565-585/mt CFR to the southern EU, depending on the country and order volume.
In addition, some sources have reported ex-Uzbekistan offers to the Baltic region at €610/mt CPT.
Ex-Asia wire rod offers to Europe have been voiced at $525-535/mt FOB, which corresponds to around €560-565/mt CFR Antwerp for large tonnages, SteelOrbis understands.
Turkey is struggling due to rising energy costs. Ex-Turkey rebar quotations for October shipments are at $570-580/mt FOB (€570-585/mt CFR) and even $5/mt lower, depending on the region and quantity, stable from last week. Official ex-Turkey offers have also been stable in the wire rod segment, at $580-590/mt FOB (€580-595/mt CFR), for October shipments.