The price of long steel in Romania has maintained its downward trend this week, and it is expected to fall further in the weeks ahead owing to the seasonally sluggish market. At the same time, many sellers in the longs steel market are concerned about the very low demand, excess stocks and global inflation, which intensify the negative market situation. In the meantime, import offers for rebar and wire rod to Romania have declined substantially, putting additional pressure on domestic retail prices.
“We have continuing contracts in Brasov, which is a new boom region for real estate, so there is a need for living spaces, and we also expect the completion of the Brasov airport soon, which will make this city more commercial, allowing us to get our business there, even though this demand is less than we have had typically, with excessive stocks and global inflation exerting downward pressure," a trader told SteelOrbis.
Domestic retail rebar prices in Romania are currently at about €715-740/mt ex-warehouse, down slightly from €715-745/mt ex-warehouse last Friday. Romanian rebar traders have shown little or no interest in imports due to their extensive stocks. According to reports, fresh prices have arrived from Moldova at €740/mt delivered, while offers from Greece have decreased by €10/mt to 790/mt delivered.
Considering EU quota difficulties, Turkey's average pricing level is about €665-690/mt CFR based on a $1 = €0.98 exchange rate and approximately €25-30/mt freight.
Local retail prices for wire rods in Romania are presently at €725-750/mt ex-warehouse, a €10-20/mt drop from the previous week. Even though traders have full stocks, according to sources, the newest offers have been arriving from Moldova at €780/mt delivered, from Italy at €800/mt delivered, down from €870/mt delivered last week, and from Greece at €810-815/mt delivered, compared to €810-845/mt delivered previous week.