Offers in the European longs market have mainly been suspended this week as most market players are taking part in the Tube&Wire 2026 international trade fair happening in Düsseldorf, Germany on April 13-17.
SteelOrbis sees the current market scenario as being quite fragmented, with different attitudes depending on the market player being interviewed. Generally speaking, steel producers are pointing towards a gradual price increase, although this week’s prices are only hypothetical. New prices will probably start to materialize in the market starting from next week.
As far as traders and end-users are concerned, views are cautious overall. Although they are aware of the bullish trend, they can generally afford to wait for further developments in the international scenario before starting to restock massively. Many of them, in fact, can still count on well-stocked warehouses of material purchased at previous prices which were much lower than current levels.
As for rebar, current prices in the Italian market seem to have settled at around €420-430/mt ex-works base (€680-690/mt ex-works including regular extras), showing an increase of €10-20/mt compared to last week. The attempts to get €440-450/mt ex-works base (€700-710/mt ex-works including regular extras), cited by SteelOrbis in last week's report, continue to be observed but without gaining market approval, according to reports. Although the demand detected by end-users - at least in Italy - is at good levels, mills’ customers remain cautious and continue to monitor the market situation closely.
In the eastern European markets, the current prices of rebar stand at around €620/mt ex-works, but, according to a source, increases could be seen as early as next week. In the local market in Spain, several market players have reported a sharp increase in demand coming mainly from the construction sector, which is pushing rebar prices to a much higher level than the average in other European countries. According to a source, a Spanish mill has offered up to €735/mt ex-works, but the information has not been confirmed by the time of publication.
Also, in Germany, domestic rebar producers are trying to ask for higher price levels, although the market reaction is still lukewarm for the time being.
Although the price levels are still purely hypothetical, the wire rod segment is also expected to see increases in the next rounds of sales in European markets. In Germany, the market expects mesh quality wire rod prices to increase from €650/mt to about €700/mt delivered, while some traders expect the price for drawing quality wire rod in Italy to even exceed €700/mt delivered. This figure has been confirmed by a source at an Italian mill, while another source from a different Italian mill does not believe it is likely that the €700/mt delivered threshold can be exceeded in the next round of sales.
European steel producers have enthusiastically welcomed the new safeguard measures that will come into force from July 1, considering them a much more effective tool than CBAM, which continues to generate some perplexities.
On the traders’ side, however, these measures are causing concern about possible cost increases and the shortage of steel that could be generated in the European market due to the nature of the new quotas and the related duties, which have been defined as “too tight”.
As for the export markets, rebar prices from Spain to UK ports remain stable at €700/mt FOB, but, as mentioned above, Spain currently seems more focused on selling to the local market rather than the export market. Meanwhile, ex-Greece rebar and wire rod prices have been reported at €640/mt FOB and €635/mt FOB respectively, up by €30/mt compared to two weeks ago.
Finally, in the import market, rebar prices from Turkey have been reported at €540-560/mt CFR, down by €10-30/mt week on week. The decline is partly due to the downward price correction by Turkish mills, but mainly to the further strengthening of the euro against the dollar. For wire rod, import prices from Turkey have decreased by €5-10/mt week on week, standing at €555-565/mt CFR.
€1 = $1.18 (European Central Bank, April 16, 2026)
