Domestic rebar prices in Italy have slipped slightly in the past two weeks, from €495-505/mt to €485-490/mt ($572-578/mt) ex-works, as producers have not been able to obtain prices higher than €490/mt recently. Meanwhile, demand in the local Italian rebar market is currently very weak.
The situation looks brighter in the export market, as in the past month Italian rebar producers have sold significant rebar volumes to Algeria at prices between €480/mt ($566/mt) and €500/mt ($590/mt), FOB for November deliveries. Accordingly, they are now in no rush to conclude sales.
Meanwhile, in the view of the downward trend of global scrap prices, foreign buyers are expecting Italian rebar prices to decrease. Nevertheless, Italian producers have low stocks and are also unwilling to reduce their rebar prices due to the high price of electrodes, which is causing an increase in their input costs. Moreover, the possibility a further increase in input costs at the beginning of next year is dissuading producers from selling as much as possible now.
€1 = $1.18