This week in the Romanian long steel market, prices have remained mostly stable. However, market sentiment is starting to shift, as business activity has not picked up as expected after the summer break. This has started to lead to higher stock levels and weak demand, which are raising concerns among market players for the weeks ahead. Unless there is a noticeable improvement in demand soon, it may become difficult to maintain the current price levels and talk of a possible downward trend is starting to grow. On the import side, no new deals have been heard in the market this week. While there are some rumors that Romanian buyers are still interested in Turkish material, sources say that compared to previous periods when quotas were actively used, buyers seem a bit more cautious now due to the weaker domestic outlook.
As a result, offer prices from the sole domestic rebar producer in Romania have remained steady at €585-590/mt, unchanged from last week. Similarly, in the retail market, traders are quoting €580-595/mt ex-warehouse, stable week on week. However, a few traders have been heard offering lower levels at €570-575/mt ex-warehouse for serious buyers.
In the wire rod segment, the same price stability has been observed, with traders maintaining offers at €575-585/mt ex-warehouse, unchanged from the previous week.
On the import side, while no fresh deals have been reported this week, approximately 70,000 mt of rebar and wire rod were booked from Turkey last week, with deal prices reported in the range of $535-545/mt FOB. Currently, Turkish offers have slightly decreased from last week, quoted at €465-485/mt CFR, down from €470-490/mt CFR previously, based on an exchange rate of €1 = $1.17 and estimated freight costs of €15-20/mt. Meanwhile, other non-EU suppliers, such as Egypt, have kept offers unchanged from the previous week for October shipments, holding at €485-490/mt CFR for rebar and €490-495/mt CFR for wire rod.
Similar stability has also been seen among EU suppliers, while Bulgarian offers remain stable at €590/mt CPT, Moldovan suppliers have maintained their offers at €590-600/mt CPT, unchanged from last week for October shipments.