The attempts to raise prices reported last week in the southern European longs market have been confirmed this week, particularly for domestic rebar in Italy, while increasing export offers remains more challenging.
In Italy, local rebar offers have been reported at up to €370/mt ex-works base (€635/mt ex-works including regular extras), despite buyers still waiting before resuming purchases. “Unlike other times, producers seem more determined not to grant discounts,” commented an Italian source.
Local wire rod offers in Italy have been reported stable at €645-655/mt delivered for drawing quality and €625-635/mt delivered for mesh quality.
Several sources have also reported price increases of €20-30/mt announced by ArcelorMittal for longs across Europe (particularly, according to some sources, in eastern Europe), but official offers have not yet been confirmed.
Regarding exports, ex-Italy rebar offers have been reported at €590-600/mt, an increase of about €10/mt compared to May offers. “It is more difficult to increase abroad because German producers are very aggressive, even in exports,” commented an Italian producer. Speaking about the prospects for June, in particular after the European elections held from June 6 to 9, an Italian source stated, “The first step is for demand to pick up; the second step is if demand picks up, to work on prices.” At this moment, however, reported demand is still too weak. Ex-Greece offers have been reported at €600/mt FOB for rebar and €620/mt FOB for wire rod. According to some rumors, Spain and Greece would have managed to sell rebar to Israel at €590-600/mt FOB (a possibility in particular since Turkey, among the main suppliers, is not currently selling to Israel).
In the import segment, ex-Turkey rebar offers have been reported at €555-560/mt CFR southern Europe, compared to €560-565/mt CFR last week, and ex-Turkey wire rod offers are at €565-570/mt CFR, compared to €575-580/mt CFR last week. Ex-Egypt offers have been reported stable at €555/mt CFR for rebar and €565/mt CFR for wire rod.