After increasing by about €200/mt since mid-November, rebar prices seem to have stabilized in the Italian domestic market in the past week. Rebar has reached "unimaginable prices", i.e., €580-610/mt ex-works, "customers are in a panic, and developments are unforeseeable," one local trader commented. Domestic demand is good, while supply continues to be very low.
As for the export market, Italian producers claim to be well covered for January shipments, while they may start to sell for February shipments in the coming days. Their idea is to get a price of at least €600/mt FOB. However, the recent decrease in import scrap prices in Turkey is causing some concerns. "This does not help because it has created uncertainty. Buyers, before commiting to high volumes, want to be sure of what they are doing," one producer commented. "Fortunately, we are not in a hurry to sell. Our finished product stocks are extremely low and we have planned to halt our production due to the lack of scrap," the same source explained.