Prices in the local Italian market have increased rapidly following the Easter Holiday. The producers have started to offer at the base price level of €410/mt ($648/mt). The Italian mills are offering medium size rebars to the local market at price levels of around €625/mt ($988/mt) ex-works, with two to three months open account, excluding VAT.
The Italian mills are offering to export markets at price levels of up to €620/mt ($980/mt) FOB. The latest deals concluded last week were at €575-580/mt ($908-916/mt) FOB.
Towards the end of the current week, Spanish producers have been offering Spanish origin 12 mm B500S rebar to the local market at around €610/mt ($964/mt) ex-works on actual weight basis with 30-day deferred payment, excluding VAT. The base prices in the local Spanish market are currently at €360-390/mt ($569-616/mt). Although the ex-works prices are the same, base prices among the mills have been varying since all mills have not changed their extras. The mills which did not change their extras have announced that they will increase them by the necessary amount as of April 1. The Spanish mills have announced to local trading firms that their target base price level in April is €410/mt ($648/mt). The mills' target prices for B500S rebars with new extras are at €650-660/mt ($1,027-1,042/mt).
The price level of 12 mm rebar in the local Portuguese market is at €610-615/mt ($964-972/mt) delivered to customer on actual weight basis with 60-day deferred payment, excluding VAT.
The Iberian producers have been offering rebars to export markets at €610-615/mt ($964-972/mt) FOB. However, they may increase their price levels as of May.
The rebar price level in the local Greek market is at €610/mt ($964/mt) delivered to customer on actual weight basis with 90-day deferred payment, excluding VAT. Due to the strong prices in the Italian market, the market players in Greece expect that the local rebar market price level may increase.
Offers at fairly high price levels from Latvia and Moldova to other European destinations have been observed. It is heard that the sole Latvian producer's offers have reached price levels of €620/mt ($980/mt) FOB Baltic Sea. The Latvian producer has focused its export attention mostly on the Russian market due to the strong demand in this country. It is also heard that some sales were concluded to Scandinavia and some northern European countries; however, these sales involved small tonnages. In the same way, the single Moldovan producer has also directed most of its exports tonnages to Russia.
When we look at imports to southern Europe from Turkey and Egypt, a sluggish market situation is observed in the first quarter of 2008. European importers have kept their imports from countries such as Turkey and Egypt at minimum levels due to the activity in the Far East and the Middle East markets. The Turkish producers' offers at the price level of $1,000/mt FOB is fairly high for the European buyers. On the other hand, there have not been a lot of offers from the Egyptian producers to Europe since the local Egyptian market prices are far over $1,000/mt.
It is difficult to describe demand in overall Europe as strong in the current spring season even if there has been some activity. Southern European producers seem to be increasing their prices due to the high international prices rather than due to demand levels. On the other hand, due to the fact that some eastern and northern European producers are turning their attention to the Russian market, support is thereby being provided for strong prices in Europe as the overall supply to this region drops.