Rebar producers in some key European markets attempted to push up their offers in the week to Wednesday January 14, after fully returning from the winter holiday, but buyers were in no mood to accept higher prices, sources told Fastmarkets.
Suppliers were also aiming to pass on increases in scrap and energy costs – aiming to benefit from the generally upbeat sentiment since the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) at the start of January.
The CBAM is widely expected to reduce steel imports to the EU, sources said
But buyers were in no hurry to accept price rises, mainly because of seasonally slow demand from the construction sector, where previous purchases at lower prices meant producer stocks were already sufficient.
“Currently, demand from cut-and-bend producers is low because not all construction sites have returned to work,” one Italian producer told Fastmarkets.
All cut-and-bend producers have warehouses, so they prefer see whether the prices will actually increase or not,” the producer added.
And an Italian trader said: “Demand is not so good these days – maybe customers are still in waiting mode. The first January weeks are cold, so building activity [only resumes] very slowly.”
Deals were done at around €550-580 ($640.52-675.46) per tonne per tonne ex-works in the week to Wednesday, sources said, while offers started at €590 per tonne ex-works or higher, with mills expected to push them to well above €600 in the coming weeks.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, exw Italy widened down to €550-600 per tonne on January 14, from €560-600 per tonne a week earlier.
In Spain some of the producers made attempts to raise their offers to €665 per tonne delivered from €650 per tonne delivered, but new offers were left without a reaction from customers.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ corresponding price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Spain remained stable in week on week comparison at €645-650 per tonne on January 14.
In Northern Europe mills’ offers moved to €610-635 per tonne delivered from €600-615 per tonne delivered before holidays. However, even some producers noted that their increases failed to gain traction.
Consequently, Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe also remained stable in the week to January 14, at €600-615 per tonne.
Author: Vlada Novokreshchenova
