Buying activities have slowed down significantly in the Italian rebar market in the past week, causing price decreases after a quite long period of upward movement. As reported last week, rebar prices had reached €580-610/mt ex-works after increasing by about €200/mt since mid-November. However, the current lack of demand has forced local mills to decrease their prices to around €580-590/mt ex-works this week. Only a few volumes have been exchanged at this price level so far, and sources believe prices will decline further in the coming days. Meanwhile, export activities have remained quiet, while local scrap prices in Italy have decreased by €10-20/mt in the past week, according to sources.