A positive situation for the merchant bar market in which the upward trend in raw material prices will soon be reflected in end product increases - this is the view of Enrico Fornelli, the commercial director of leading merchant bar producer Beltrame.
"The market is going well for Beltrame," Mr. Fornelli stated. "We have reached a positive equilibrium, with satisfactory sales and warehouse stocks at low to medium," he continued.
Sales in Germany and northern Europe are seeing the dispatch of consistent volumes, while in Italy the tonnages being shifted are superior to the average levels of recent years.
As regards current price levels, "Base prices are around €300/mt, but in the coming weeks an increase in expected," Mr. Fornelli declared, adding that the increased billet and scrap prices were the reason for the imminent hike in merchant bar prices. "Since Christmas billet prices have gone up by $100/mt, while scrap prices have also raised their head". Fornelli went on to state that these rises in material costs should lead to a progressive increase in prices that, in the absence of any major surprises in the market, could continue for many weeks ahead.
Beltrame Group, based in Vicenza in northern Italy, is the leading European manufacturer of merchant bars, and also produces special sections. Together with its French subidiary Laminés Marchands Européens, bought in 1994, the Italian group operates plants in Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg, with a combined output of over two million metric tons per year.