No major changes have been reported in the longs steel segment in Europe this week. The market mood is overall sluggish, and price trends have emerged as sideways to lower amid offer exceeding demand and international uncertainty due to recent military escalations that have involved Poland.
Pessimistic mood is emerging among rebar sellers in Italy, who have reported a decline of €20/mt in prices. If €280/mt ex-works base (€545/mt ex-works including regular extras) had only been seen in a couple of deals last week, when the average price was €300/mt ex-works base (€565/mt ex-works including regular extras), the new level this week seems to have stabilized at the lowest. “Offers are high considering insufficient [rebar] demand,” a source claimed. “I expect further declines next week”. In the meantime, though, in southern Italy demand of finished steel seems good, and according to media reports, rebar incomes since the beginning of this year have been rather satisfying compared to other finished products, even though their levels are not comparable to pre-pandemic’s.
In the wire rod segment, no changes have been reported in Italy nor in other European countries, where the market mood remains weak, and the low steel demand – especially in Poland – is mainly due to a general sluggishness. “Market players are worried about two main issues, i.e. recent military events and the CBAM. Especially about the latter, they are eager to have more information, but no one seems to have the right indications,” a source reported.
As for exports, ex-Spain rebar prices to UK ports have been reported at €535/mt FOB, down by €5/mt week on week.
Finally, in the import segment, most price levels have remained unchanged compared to last week. Rebar and wire rod prices from Turkey have been reported at €485-495/mt CFR and €495-500/mt CFR, respectively, unchanged compared to last week. Rebar and wire rod prices from Egypt have been reported at €485-495/mt CFR and €500-505/mt CFR respectively. The former is down by €5/mt on the lower end of the range, whereas the latter is unchanged compared to last week. Finally, Indonesian wire rod prices to Europe have been reported at €480/mt CFR. These prices are based on the euro-dollar exchange rate of 1.17 (European Central Bank, September 11).
