Domestic rebar prices in Italy have trended sideways in the past seven days after increasing to the €400-410/mt ($456-467/mt) ex-works level in the previous week. The uptrend of scrap prices is still providing support for rebar prices, while, owing to expectations of further price increases, apparent demand has improved slightly in the Italian rebar market. According to market sources, local rebar producers will try to take advantage of the scrap uptrend to strengthen their prices until their summer stoppages.
Meanwhile, there are still rumors about an imminent release of import licenses in Algeria. This would allow Italian rebar producers to resume their exports to the North African country, but would not have a real influence on production - the material that would be unblocked has already been sold and is just stuck at Italian ports.
€1 = $1.14