In recent weeks local mills' intentions to raise their prices have predominated in the European rebar markets, which already seem to have entered into the holiday spirit. However, the mills have not obtained the anticipated response from the demand side. Especially, fluctuations in scrap prices have nowadays affected finished steel prices; thus, rebar prices have continued to have only a limited influence on demand levels. The lack of new projects in the rebar sector as well as the cancellation of ongoing projects still constitute the main reasons behind the lack of end-user demand in Europe overall. Although mills have occasionally tried to raise their prices, these price increases have been reflected only on their official price lists. However, actual prices have been determined depending on buyer, tonnage and payment terms and, for this reason, different prices may be heard in the market.
In general, the southern European domestic markets have shown up-and-down price movements over the past week, but these movements have trended within a range of €10-20/mt. On the export side, the target sales price is standing at the level of €340/mt FOB; however, the latest high tonnage sales have been concluded at around €320/mt FOB. Last week, no change was observed in the sluggishness seen in Algeria, which is one of the most important export markets for southern Europe.
On the eastern European side, it is seen that mills have followed up the increasing trend of import rebar prices in recent weeks - a situation which has been observed in particular in Romania and Bulgaria. It is also observed that, comparing local mills' prices and import prices, stockists and traders whose stock levels have been diminished have mostly preferred to buy products from local mills, considering the lead times involved.
With market players in the European rebar markets delaying their hopes of a rebound until September, the picture observed last week in the markets in question was no different compared to that seen in previous weeks.