On July 25, Siderpotenza, a rebar producer located in the southern Italy city of Potenza and owned by Pittini Group, was put under seizure by local judges because of the emission of harmful substances, such as dioxins, furans, carbon monoxide and other harmful compounds in amounts exceeding the permitted. This had repercussions on the Italian rebar market, bringing local price from €430-435/mt ($576-583/mt) ex-works of last week to the current €455/mt ($610/mt) ex-works. Such price is still 'on paper' and may be confirmed or not in the coming period. Sources say that outside extraordinary events like the seizure of Siderpotenza - which is a major plant for the southern Italy region - the period immediately preceding summer stoppages has always been considered by Italian rebar producers the right time to announce price increases in view of their return to the market in September. Meanwhile, purchasing activities remain very slow because of the summer period, while the proximity of holidays doesn't allow accurate predictions of what will happen in the coming month.
As for the export market, the month of Ramadan has officially ended. Nevertheless, Italian rebar producers hope for a recovery of activities in the period after their summer stoppages in August. Meanwhile, the latest inquiries from Algeria, which are not supported by a real demand, were answered by offers at €425-430/mt ($570-576/mt)FOB, which indicate an increase of €5-10/mt ($7-13/mt) compared to ten days ago.
€1 =$1.34