The Romanian long steel market has remained mostly unchanged over the past week amid persistent demand weakness and ongoing liquidity challenges. Trading activity continues to be subdued, with most buyers adopting a cautious approach due to limited downstream demand and uncertain economic conditions. As a result, domestic rebar and wire rod offers have been maintained at previous levels, as both local spot traders and the country’s sole rebar producer have chosen to keep prices stable amid weak buying interest. Meanwhile, in the import segment, buying activity has slowed noticeably, even though purchases of a few small and medium-sized volumes were concluded in recent weeks from EU suppliers. Market participants report that Romanian buyers now view EU-origin offers as relatively high, making them less attractive compared with domestic alternatives. Combined with tight liquidity and limited construction activity, this perception has further dampened import demand.
In the domestic market, rebar prices have stayed unchanged, with the country’s sole producer keeping offers at €550-555/mt ex-works. Spot traders have also held prices stable, at €555-565/mt ex-warehouse, similar to last week. However, in the spot market, a few traders have continued to offer small discounts to encourage sales, with prices heard at around €540-545/mt ex-warehouse, as weak liquidity and slow demand continue to limit activity.
Likewise, in the wire rod market, a similar stability has been observed, with minimal trade. Over the past week, offers have remained stable at €560-570/mt ex-warehouse.
On the other hand, in the import market, Romanian buyers are not very satisfied with EU suppliers’ prices. However, those who urgently need material and are still waiting due to customs clearance procedures with non-EU suppliers, have had to purchase some lots from EU suppliers. According to sources, Romanian buyers recently bought small and medium-sized rebar tonnages from Bulgaria and Italy, at around €570-580/mt CPT and €585-595/mt CPT, respectively. Meanwhile, fresh offers from Bulgaria and Italy have continued to remain at these levels over the past week for end-of-November shipment. Similarly, rebar offers from Moldovan suppliers have also remained stable at around €550/mt CPT. On the non-EU suppliers’ side, Egyptian mills have kept their offers stable at €485-490/mt CFR for rebar and €495-500/mt CFR for wire rod, both for November shipment. Meanwhile, Turkish suppliers have made some increases of around €5-10/mt over the past week, influenced by slightly higher scrap prices. Turkish rebar offers are now reported at €490-500/mt CFR, based on an exchange rate of €1 = $1.15 and estimated freight costs of €15-20/mt.