The European longs market has been quite tense this week. Most domestic and export prices have remained unchanged and many are waiting to see what will happen in the days and months to come amid an international scenario of great uncertainty mainly due to Trump's decisions on import tariffs.
In the Italian rebar market, several sources reported that some deals were concluded at the level desired a couple of weeks ago, i.e., €340/mt ex-works base (€605/mt ex-works including regular extras). This means that the workable level has risen in some deals by about €20/mt compared to the previous week. This does not mean, however, that deals at lower levels have disappeared from the market, as demand remains subdued. With the declines in energy and scrap prices, it is doubtful whether these price increases will last. "Customers are buying because they have low inventory levels, but, with energy and scrap prices declining, these increases will likely be short-lived," a source commented, adding, "Demand, however, remains modest, indeed high in Italy, but there is no element to suggest a structural increase. To return to a certain balance, production capacity should be lowered because in Italy it is twice as high as the consumption of finished steel products."
As for wire rod, the Italian market reports unchanged prices at €635-650/mt delivered for drawing quality and €605-620/mt for mesh grade quality, but "the market is very nervous because of Trump's push and pull on duties and barriers," a source said. The source went on to say, "Many customers are asking for anticipations of May prices and they put a lot of pressure on us. Plus, Turkish quotas [98,054 mt] that have been exhausted and the surplus will bring a distributed increase of €40-50/mt on the material cleared through customs."
In Germany, increases of around €20/mt have been reported on all wire rod qualities after a long period of stability, and prices are also rising throughout western Europe. Demand for the product seems good, but there are fears for the future of prices. For now, Europe is shielded by the protectionist bubble of safeguards, but the effects of the many variables present in the market remain difficult to predict.
Export prices of rebar and wire rod from Greece remain unchanged at €595-600/mt FOB and €590/mt FOB respectively, while rebar exports from Spain to the United Kingdom stand at around €595/mt FOB.
Finally, rebar and wire rod import offers from Turkey remained officially unchanged at €550-555/mt FOB and €555-565/t FOB for April shipment, but there are rumors about Turkish rebar being offered at €525/mt FOB. Offers from Algeria stand at €530-550/mt FOB for wire rod and €535-550/mt FOB for rebar. Egypt has offered €530-535/mt FOB for rebar and about €550/mt FOB for wire rod. Finally, wire rod offers from Indonesia and Vietnam stand at €520/t FOB and €540-575/mt FOB, respectively.
All prices are calculated based on the $1 = €0.90 exchange rate (April 10).