With the approach of the summer holidays, rebar demand in Italy has remained low. Following last week's intensive rebar bookings in Algeria from Italy, domestic rebar prices in the Italian market have been revised upwards, reaching €530-540/mt ($753-767/mt) for deliveries to customer. Since Algerian buyers are currently waiting for the arrival of rebar cargoes from last week's transactions at €530-535/mt CFR, these buyers are not currently active, also considering the approach of Ramadan. SteelOrbis has learned from market sources that while Italian rolling mills' rebar export offers stand at €505-510/mt ($717-724/mt) FOB, these mills prefer to focus on their domestic markets, given more advantageous domestic price levels.
In the Spanish domestic rebar market, some mills have suspended their production due to planned maintenance works. And this has caused reduced availability in the Spanish market. While rebar demand is still weak in Spain ahead of the summer holidays, domestic rebar prices stand at €570-580/mt ($809-824/mt) on actual weight basis, for deliveries to customer. In the meantime, Spanish mills' mainstream rebar export offers are still at €515-520/mt ($731-738/mt) FOB. Although Spanish mills' rebar export offers are currently scarce due to rebar supply shortages, few offers given to Algeria are at €540/mt ($767/mt) CFR. However, Algerian buyers are not in the market for the time being.
In the Portuguese domestic rebar market no significant change has been observed this week and domestic rebar prices have maintained their sideways trend. Market players state that they are not expecting any price increase throughout July, while Spanish mills' rebar offers to Portugal are at €585/mt ($831/mt) on actual weight basis, for deliveries to customer and for 60-day deferred payments.
In the Greek domestic market, rebar demand is low and Italian mills have reportedly reduced the number of their rebar offers to Greece. In the local Greek market, producers medium sized rebar offers have remained unchanged as compared to last week at €540-580/mt ($767-824/mt) on actual weight basis, for deliveries to customer and for 30-day
On the other hand, rebar demand in Bulgaria is still at good levels. In the Bulgarian domestic market, stand at BGN 1,010-1,020/mt ($734-741/mt) CPT (BGN 1,000/mt ex-works) on actual weight basis, exclusive of 20 percent VAT. In line with the strengthening of the US dollar, market insiders state that prices may see an upward adjustment in coming days.
€1 = $1.42