After the increases recorded in the previous two weeks, the European longs market has been mostly stable this week, but the upward pressure on prices has not eased.
Prices in the local rebar market in Italy have remained stable at around €410/mt ex-works base (€670/mt ex-works including regular extras), but, according to several market players, further increases by around €30-40/mt will be possible in the coming weeks, shifting workable prices to around €440-450/mt ex-works base (€700-710/mt ex-works including regular extras). Once again, price increases will not be driven by a demand improvement, but by the uncertainty of the international geopolitical situation, which has caused increases in gas, energy and raw material prices. In addition, signs of some slight upward pressure are beginning to emerge in the scrap market in Italy, a further element that could contribute to putting further pressure on prices on the cost side.
In Germany, the scrap market is also showing possible signs of an increase, which could reportedly lead to local rebar prices increasing by around €20/mt compared to previous levels of €645/mt delivered.
As for wire rod, April sales prices in Italy remain unchanged in a range of €675-685/mt delivered for drawing quality and at €640-650/mt delivered for mesh quality. According to a source, however, there could be further increases in the next round of sales.
No changes have been reported in export markets, with stable prices for both rebar and wire rod from both Greece and Spain to UK ports.
Finally, also in the import segment, increases by about $5/mt have been recorded in rebar prices, but the workable levels have in fact remained stable due to the variations in the euro-dollar exchange rate. As a result, ex-Turkey rebar prices have settled at €570/mt CFR, but actual deals have been reported at slightly lower levels. Ex-Turkey wire rod prices have also been reported at higher levels up by $5/mt, while CFR prices have settled at around €575/mt, slightly down from last week due to the variations in the euro-dollar exchange rate. For ex-Egypt material, the workable levels have been reported at around €550-555/mt CFR for rebar and €560-565/mt for wire rod, also slightly down compared to last week's reference price.
In this context, the situation as regards import quotas remains to be monitored with the beginning of the new quota period, which sees the Turkish quota for imports into the European Union exhausted at a rate of 66.36 percent for rebar and at 100 percent for wire rod, while the Egyptian quota has been used at a rate of 11.95 percent for rebar and 91.66 percent for wire rod.
€1 = $1.17 (European Central Bank, April 9, 2026)
