Domestic rebar and wire rod prices have continued climbing in Italy in the pre-holiday period due to relatively active restocking, expected production cuts, and the stronger scrap prices seen in the market.
Particularly, local rebar producers have announced a further price increase of €50-80/mt to €650/mt ex-works base from the main producers, which makes around €910/mt ex-works including size extras. In the wire rod segment, the latest offers have been set at €920-950/mt delivered in northern Italy, up from €920/mt delivered last week.
Sources report the main reason is the positive trend in the local scrap market, the increased number of orders in the domestic market, but also from Germany where buyers decided to restock amid concerns regarding rising energy costs. The transportation cost from Italy to Germany is reportedly at €40-50/mt, and so the delivered price is at around €690-700/mt base. “Last but not least there is more balance between offers and demand after many long steel output reductions and shutdowns are planned in August,” said a European trader commenting on the Italian market situation.