This week, with the approaching holiday, Romania's longs steel market has stayed relatively unchanged from the previous week, with pricing being stable both from the sole rebar mill and in the retail market. However, according to insiders, due to ongoing weak trade and lower levels of imported offers, a few traders have chosen to reduce their offers to attract buyers' interest. As a result of the overall unfavorable environment, many traders predict prices may start to decline in the coming weeks.
Over the past week, in the domestic market, the sole local producer’s rebar prices have remained at €590-605/mt ex-works. Likewise, retail pricing for rebar in Romania has remained stable at €610-620/mt ex-warehouse since last week.
However, as previously pointed out, a few traders have begun to offer lower than most market levels at around €600-605/mt ex-warehouse.
Similarly, nothing has changed in the Romanian wire rod market since the outlook has remained weak. Domestic prices have remained stable at roughly €580-595/mt ex-warehouse.
On the other hand, in the import segment, while no new purchases have been made in Romania, sources have reported that Turkey sold several lots to Romania for $540-550/mt FOB in the recent two weeks. Meanwhile, current rebar offers from Turkey to Romania at a €1 = $1.14 exchange rate and freight of €25-30/mt have been reported at €495-515/mt CFR, from €500-510/mt CFR last week. In contrast, Bulgaria's offers for rebar have remained steady at €620-640/mt CPT, while Egypt's offers for wire rod and rebar have also remained stable week on week, at €560-565/mt CPT and €550-555/mt CPT, respectively. Furthermore, according to sources, Moldova will begin offering rebar shortly, which is expected to be reasonably priced and may attract Romanian buyers. Previously, rebar offers from Moldova were around €610-620/mt CPT to Romania.