Domestic rebar offers in Germany are rebounding, following a bearish start seen earlier in October. According to sources, the general market mood is difficult to frame with opposite forces driving prices up and down.
During the first half of the month, offers from German mills were heard at €500-520/mt CPT. Buyers were expecting further drops and therefore delayed their purchasing. However, later into the month, energy costs started to put pressure on mills, damaging their margins and forcing the producers to apply surcharges to their offers. ArcelorMittal has applied a €50/mt surcharge due to the sky-rocketing energy costs, whereas other producers are adding as much as €70/mt.
Now for November and December production the base prices have increased to €550-570/mt CPT, with leading times averaging at around 2 months. For some products they might be extended to 3-4 months, sources say.
According to sources, the extension of the delivery terms is caused by planned maintenances that will result in some producers pausing their production. Badische Stahlwerke GmbH (BSW) is set to stop activities between December and January for its scheduled revamp works. There are also talks in the market about a revamp at Riva Stahl’s plants between January and February, even though the timing is yet to be confirmed.