Long product demand weak in southern Europe, prices stable

Even though demand for both rebar and wire rod has failed to register a recovery in the southern European domestic markets, steel mills have been seeking to push up their quotations for these products. However, despite these attempts, the offers at higher prices have failed to find buyers amid low end-user demand, and so long steel offers in the region have remained at their previous levels. Accordingly, November shipment rebar offers in the local Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets are still at €480-490/mt ($610-622/mt) ex-works, while domestic wire rod offers in these three countries are at €485-495/mt ($616-629/mt) ex-works.
 
Meanwhile, market sources believe that the first quarter next year will likely be a quiet period due to the sluggishness of the European construction sector, and so prices and demand in the region will likely not record any remarkable changes. In addition, the market sources commented that the main problem in the market is oversupply of rebar and wire rod.
 
€1 = $1.27