Romania-based retailers, who increased prices last week due to production cuts announced in Europe have had to roll back their prices this week as buyers have not shown any positive reaction and sales have remained slow. Moreover, some small traders are eager to provide additional discounts in order to speed up trade, while large companies prefer to keep their prices at higher levels.
“We foresaw this [downtrend] since the lack of demand has been a problem for months and continues to be one of our main drawbacks. In addition, the approaching winter season means that we will enter even more challenging times in terms of demand,” a trader indicated to SteelOrbis.
In Romania, current domestic retail rebar prices range at €715-745/mt ex-warehouse, which dropped from €735-750/mt ex-warehouse the previous week. According to the most recent reports, Greece has reduced its offers to €790/mt delivered, down from €835-840/mt delivered last week. Likewise, Bulgaria has lowered its offers by €30/mt during the week to €770/mt delivered.
Turkey has the lowest costs in the market, at roughly €710–725/mt CFR at the $1 = €1.01 exchange rate and about €25–€30/mt freight. Nonetheless, the fourth quarter quota capacity is restricted, and so purchasers must carefully consider their choices.
Moreover, retail prices for wire rod in Romania have fallen by €10/mt to €715-770/mt ex-warehouse. According to sources, Greece has offered €780/mt delivered, down from €855/mt delivered as reported last week.