Southern European rebar mills catch up with Turkish prices upon exchange rate relief

In the European rebar market, price levels have moved upwards in line with our expectations; however, demand has seen no change so far. Early this week, the euro/ US dollar exchange rate retreated to 1.42, allowing southern European producers to push forward their rebar exports to West Africa in the coming days.
 
In the Italian market, the base price for rebars has continued to rise, reaching €280-290/mt ex-works on actual weight basis. SteelOrbis has even received information from sources in the Italian market that producers are now aiming to exceed the base price level of €300/mt ex-mill.  However, demand continues to remain low, with very little interest seen in response to these higher offer levels.
 
Rebar export offers from Italian producers stand at €505/mt FOB, and the latest offers to Algeria have moved up to €530/mt CFR. A good deal of tonnage was sold to Algeria in recent weeks, though last week buying activity ground to a halt due to the strong euro and high inventory levels. Nevertheless,  Algeria is expected to start buying again this week.
 
In the Spanish rebar market, buyers are cautious towards the increasing price levels for the time being, similar to the situation in Italy. Demand in the domestic market is low in Spain. Domestic price levels of rebar are in the range of €275-280/mt ex-works, base, while Spanish producers are offering rebar for exports at €505-510/mt FOB. The recent softening of the euro against the dollar has caused Spanish offers to move closer to Turkish rebar offers, and so the Spanish producers are hoping to attract interest in new export markets with the help of the exchange rate.
 
In Bulgaria, domestic demand for rebar has not improved so far and continues to remain at low levels. Bulgarian producers have not made any significant change in their domestic  offers, with their offers currently standing at BGN 945-955/mt delivered to customer, on actual weight basis.
 
In Greece, demand for rebar is not strong, and limited bookings are carried out on a daily basis. Local rolling mills continue to push for a price rise. Producers offer medium size rebar in the domestic market at €535-565/mt delivered, on actual weight basis.