While the sole Romanian producer has chosen to maintain offers unchanged from the previous week, Romanian long steel traders have decided to raise prices in response to variations in scrap prices and consumer acceptance at higher price levels. However, market participants report that, notwithstanding some selling at higher levels in the domestic market, trading has not improved and remains limited.
“As scrap prices vary though they remain at reasonable levels, we upped our offers a little. Also, customers have accepted high price levels, but demand remains variable. One day, orders are coming in, while the next day is silent,” a large trader commented on the current situation to SteelOrbis.
Most Romanian traders have raised rebar prices by €15-25/mt to €610-635/mt ex-warehouse from last week's offers. Meanwhile, offers from Romania's sole rebar producer remain unchanged week on week at €620/mt ex-works.
Though market participants claim that demand is still relatively slow, similar rises have also been observed in the wire rod market. This week, the majority of traders have quoted wire rod offers at €610-615/mt ex-warehouse, up from €600-610/mt ex-warehouse the week before.
Furthermore, in the import market this week, Romanian traders have remained silent as regards purchases, but offers continue to be received. This week, Moldova held rebar offers steady at €610-620/mt CPT, while Bulgaria offered rebar at €650-670/mt CPT. Also, according to sources, Serbia offered rebar to Romania for €660/mt CPT, but Romanian traders did not show much interest because the price remained higher than recent import offers. While Egypt upped rebar offers by €20/mt CFR to €595/mt CFR from last week, its wire rod offers remained unchanged at €605/mt CFR. Similarly, Turkey's average rebar offers have remained unchanged at €590-605/mt CFR Romania, with a €1 = $1.08 exchange rate and around €25-30/mt freight.
