Italian merchant bar producers have told SteelOrbis that 2017 was generally a good year in terms of both prices and volumes, especially the first half. They are also moderately optimistic for the first quarter of next year. Currently, producers' base prices for domestic merchant bar in Italy are at €140-160/mt ($165-189/mt) ex-works*, while Italian merchant bar offers to the European market (e.g., Germany) are at €160-170/mt ($189-201/mt) delivered to customer.
According to sources, current price levels are supported by high scrap and billet prices, while demand is also relatively good. Moreover, competition has decreased in the past few months due to the decision of some Italian producers who produced merchant bar to switch their production to high quality and special steels.
*In the Italian market, price extras can vary in the range of €410-610/mt ($484-720/mt) for domestic sales and in the range of €410-620/mt (484-732/mt) for foreign markets, depending on dimension and product.
€1 = $1.18