In Italy, domestic rebar prices may reach a base price of €500/mt in the coming weeks, i.e., €760/mt ex-works for 12mm material, in the wake of rising energy costs and the expected rebound of local scrap prices. A source explained to SteelOrbis that local rebar producers "after booking orders at €680-690/mt ex-works raised their offers first to €720-730/mt," while today "many are asking for €760/mt and threaten to cancel some previous orders that were closed at much lower prices, if not collected by the buyers before October 31". Transaction prices are now in the €720-750/mt ex-work range, according to sources, although few orders have been placed at the higher end of the range so far. As already reported by SteelOrbis, several steelmakers have reduced production in recent weeks amid the sharp increase in costs.
This year, the average rebar price in the Italian market fell to a minimum of €545/mt ex-works in the second half of February, while it approached €760/mt ex-works in the period between the end of June and the end of August, and then began to decline again due to low demand, increasing stocks and falling scrap prices. Italian producers now seem "determined to recover margins in order to end a very positive year with a bang," one source commented.