The import business activity in the Romanian longs market has softened over the week due to limited domestic end-user demand and the generally cautious mood in the segment, taking into account lower scrap prices and the overall weak longs market in the EU. Import offers in Romania remain quite numerous, but trade has been low as a lot of traders prefer to either wait or deal for smaller than usual volumes.
In light of the grim outlook, Romanian longs traders have been limiting their import purchases, continuing with existing stocks. As for the offers from Europe, the Italian mills have been in the market with €640-670/mt FCA for rebar depending on the mill and €690/mt FCA for wire rod. The delivery cost to Romania is estimated by the local market players at €40/mt, and so Romanian buyers may consider €680-710/mt and €730/mt for rebar and wire rod, respectively, both on delivered basis. In addition, Bulgaria has been offering rebar at €720-730/mt CPT this week, and Egypt has decreased its indications by €10/mt over the past week to €645-650/mt CFR for March shipments, SteelOrbis has learned.
In the meantime, one Algeria-based supplier is offering rebar and wire rod at €620-630/mt CFR and €667-677/mt CFR, respectively. However, according to sources, some of the Algerian suppliers lack the required rebar certification, while the wire rod can be traded if the price and the lead time are acceptable.
Domestic retail rebar prices in Romania have decreased from the previous week by €5-10/mt to €710-715/mt ex-warehouse. Furthermore, in the wire rod segment prices have decreased to €715-720/mt ex-warehouse, from €720-730/mt ex-warehouse last week.
“Despite the discounts, demand is minimal, and, on top of that, scrap prices are falling, so it appears that the downturn will endure in the upcoming weeks," a Romanian trader told SteelOrbis.
