Following the end of the summer holidays, the Romanian long steel market has recorded a modest recovery in demand compared to previous months. However, the improvement has not been significant enough to generate upward momentum in pricing. As a result, both spot traders and the country’s sole rebar producer have chosen to maintain stable offers over the past week. A limited number of traders attempted to increase offers in response to the slight recovery in activity, yet these efforts have been unsuccessful due to weak buyer acceptance. In parallel, Romanian buyers are increasingly turning to Turkish suppliers for their long steel import needs, particularly ahead of the upcoming new EU quota period. With restocking activity picking up in early September, Turkish material has become the preferred choice for this quota period.
According to market sources, in recent weeks, approximately 70,000 mt of rebar and wire rod have been booked from Turkey, with deal prices reported in the range of $535-545/mt FOB. However, currently, Turkish offers to Romania remain relatively stable compared to last week, while slightly lower than deal prices, quoted at €470-490/mt CFR, based on an exchange rate of €1 = $1.17 and estimated freight costs of €15-20/mt. In contrast, Egyptian suppliers have not reported any new deals, with offers for October shipment holding at €485-490/mt CFR for rebar and €495-500/mt CFR for wire rod.
Among EU-based suppliers, Bulgaria has continued its price-cutting strategy, reducing rebar offers by €10/mt to €590/mt CPT for end-of-September and October shipments. Meanwhile, Moldovan suppliers have opted for price stability, maintaining their offers at €590-600/mt CPT, unchanged from the previous week.
On the other hand, domestically, offer prices from the sole domestic rebar producer in Romania have remained at €585-590/mt, reflecting the stable market sentiment. The retail market has mirrored this stability, with traders quoting €580-595/mt ex-warehouse, stable week on week. Attempts by some sellers to raise offers to €600/mt have been met with limited interest.
In the wire rod segment, demand remains weaker than for rebar. Although minor improvements have been observed, they have not been sufficient to support higher prices. As a result, traders have kept offers stable at €575-585/mt ex-warehouse, unchanged from the previous week.