German rebar producers have revised their local prices, finally giving in to pressure from buyers after weeks of resistance. The offers have decreased by €20/mt over the past two weeks in Germany to €630-660/mt ex-works for April production. However, the market outlook is now positive as business has been improving, following the rather slow trade seen in February.
Many believe prices will increase for rebar in Germany because of the positive situation in the scrap market and better weather conditions. In February, weather conditions were not good, especially in northern and eastern Germany which caused many projects to stop. "We had very low demand in February and buyers have exerted pressure on prices. They expected us to reflect declines in scrap prices in our prices. Now the market outlook is positive and scrap prices are increasing. We believe we will see higher prices for rebar in the short term," a trader told SteelOrbis.
In the export markets, prices have also declined, falling by €20/mt to €620-630/mt FOB. Following discounts, some sales to Austria have been heard in the market. Also, buyers in the export destinations did not want to hurry to buy because of bad weather conditions, but demand is expected to recover in the export markets in the short term.