Local rebar and wire rod prices have continued to decrease in Italy, reflecting poor end-user demand and slow business activity. In addition, trade has shrunk seasonally as the holiday period is coming, and so some mills are considering slowing down their production in the July-August period. Having dropped prices for longs, Italian mills have also decreased their scrap prices significantly this week.
Currently, Italian mills are offering rebar at €520-550/mt ex-works base or around €780-810/mt ex-works, taking into account the regular size extras. As a result, the offers have fallen by at least €110-115/mt over the past week and, according to some sources, might continue to fall.
In the wire rod segment, SAE1006 material is on offer at €870-900/mt delivered to northern Italy, down €130/mt over the same period. “There is literally no demand and buyers are relaxed, and so mills have to move and decrease their prices,” a local trader told SteelOrbis. Import offers for wire rod from Turkey have been reported at €680/mt CFR Italy, while offers from Algeria are at €700-720/mt CFR.