Weak demand and stable prices - this is the current situation in Italy's domestic beams market.
In recent weeks, the demand levels from end-users and distributors in the local Italian beams market has been low. Due to the elevated quotation levels and the difficulty in concluding sales, traders and service centers are not very active in purchases and are aiming the reach the start of the August holiday period with medium-to-low inventory levels. As regards real consumption, the slowdown in the construction sector (which has this year registered a drop of 2.1 percent in business, according to Euroconstruct) is causing a decline in buying activity, as evidenced by the unusual calm in the market seen in the month of July. On the other hand, thanks to demand from Europe and from the Mediterranean region, producers' order books are fairly full.
Quotation levels have stabilized in recent weeks. In the days ahead no major developments are expected, but for September beams producers are planning a significant rise in quoted prices.