After the extras, now the base prices. While beams in the Italian domestic market witnessed an increase of €25-30/mt ($36-44/mt) in size extras at the start of the current year, now the turn has come for increases in base prices - this price component has been rising in recent days and does not seem likely to slow down in the short term.
There are two principal causes of this latest trend. In first place, the reawakening of scrap on both an Italian and European scale has caused a decisive increase in production costs, which has immediately been passed on downstream. In second place, apparent demand, reinforced by the low inventory levels at the end of last year and by the expectation of a rise in quotations, has gained ground; today producers' stock levels have been practically reduced to zero and their order books are registering a consistent flow of orders. With regard to real consumption levels, on the other hand, the situation appears to be in line with the expected norms.
Turning to distribution, and in particular to the service centers, strong competition is still evident between the players involved, which means that the prices increases paid to the producers have not yet been fully passed on.
For the weeks ahead, the expectations of the players in the market are for a further increase of base quotations for beams, both for small and large dimensions.