Prices unchanged, activity depressed in Italian wire rod market

According to information collected by SteelOrbis, in the Italian domestic market drawing quality wire rod prices are still standing at €520-530/mt ($650-663/mt) for deliveries to customer, exclusive of VAT.
 
In the meantime, although demand for high carbon wire rod is minimal in the Italian domestic market due to the sluggishness of the country's construction industry, mesh quality wire rod prices at €510/mt ($638/mt) have not shown any changes  since last week. However, market operators state that this is almost a virtual quotation, given the scarcity of actual transactions.
 
Activity in Italy's wire rod export markets is also depressed. Ex-Italy mesh quality wire rod offers are currently standing at about €500/mt ($625/mt) FOB, though hardly any new orders have been placed due to the upcoming Ramadan period in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Moreover, Algerian buyers have canceled some orders booked with Italian long steel producers, due to credit facility issues. Accordingly, unshipped material lies in producers' warehouses and is ready to be delivered with very short lead times, about 10-20 days, to potential customers.
 
€1 = $1.25