After the New Year holiday, the local Italian rebar market has seen a slight recovery in activity levels. At present, local prices for 12-28 mm rebar are at €335-345/mt ($362-373/mt) ex-works, unchanged from mid-December, while SteelOrbis sources indicate that a €10/mt discount is widely available.
The New Year has got off to a bad start for Italian rebar producers which are mainly focused on the foreign markets, since on January 5 the Algerian government has cancelled import licenses for certain products, including rebar. This measure has temporarily blocked shipments, causing some panic among Italian rebar producers since most of them have been focused on exports considering the very weak demand in their local market and low stock levels in the Algerian market. Currently, it is unclear when new import licenses will be issued. In the meantime, rebar export offers from Italian producers are in the range of €330-335/mt ($356-362/mt) FOB.
€1 = $1.08