Towards the end of the 29th week of the year, the end-user demand level in Italy and Spain is still at low levels. Producers in these countries, which will enter their holiday period in August, will be able to undertake their overhauling works during the break. In addition, another influential factor is the current overall softening in scrap prices across Europe. The base prices in the Italian domestic market have this week been in the range of €580-590/mt, indicating a decrease of around €10/mt compared to last week, due to the abovementioned softening of scrap prices. The rebar price level in the local Italian market has this week been at €790-800/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. It is heard that some producers and some traders in Italy, who have been performing exports due to the decreasing rebar prices in the local market, have been increasing the frequency of their offers to the countries with high-flying local markets, such as Greece and Romania.
The rebar prices in the local UAE market has this week been in the price range of AED 5,800-5,900 /mt ($1,579-1,607/mt) ex-works, while the Turkish producers have maintained their offers to this market at the price level of $1,550/mt CF Dubai. Traders in Dubai, who will receive deliveries of Turkish rebars in July, August and September, may wait for Turkish rebar prices to take shape again.
End-user demand in Greece has been sluggish for a long time now and continues to maintain its weak performance. Thus, the offer price levels of mills and traders in this country have remained unchanged compared to last week. While the producers in Greece have this week again made offers at €900/mt ex-works, excluding VAT, it is possible to find price levels of up to €40/mt below this price.
The rebar price range in the local Bulgarian market is €830-850/mt ex-works, excluding VAT. The price range in question indicates a decrease of around €10/mt compared to last week. Although end-user activity is not so strong in Bulgaria, it is still somewhat better compared to the other southern Europe countries.
While the rebar prices in the local Saudi Arabian market have increased by around SAR 50/mt over the past week, it is expected that the prices in question may rise further in the coming week due to the strong end-user demand.
Meanwhile, in the Turkish domestic market, the price range for rebar, which is at $1,375-1,405 ex-works excluding VAT from the mills, has decreased to $1,270/mt ex-warehouse, excluding VAT from traders. Traders in the local market have been faced with difficulties in doing business, as prices have decreased by $80-90/mt in the last two weeks. On the other hand, Turkish mills are still offering rebars for export to destinations other than the US and Persian Gulf markets at $1,380-1,400/mt FOB, indicating no change on a weekly basis. However, it is heard that some traders with previously taken positions in Turkey have been offering rebars to Bulgaria at lower levels compared to the previously mentioned range.