Output cuts and limited import options bolstered the European longs market, with prices expected to strengthen amid higher energy costs anticipated in the coming months.
Argus' weekly Italian rebar and drawing quality wire rod assessments were static at €565/t ex-works and €580/t delivered.
In Italy, rebar sale levels were settled mainly in the range of €300-310/t ex-works fpr base prices and €560-570/t ex-works after including extras for sizes. But mills were targeting at least €330/t ex-works for base prices or €590/t ex-works with extras, signalling to customers that energy costs are likely to surge in the coming months while scrap prices remained firm on tight inflows. Mills have increased prices amid expectations that production costs will be rising and customers replenishing depleted stocks with the understanding prices are at a low, a market participant said. Drawing quality wire rod offers were pegged at €570-590/t delivered in Italy. But further production cuts were still on the table.
Italian suppliers received some support from the nearby markets too, as German prices bottomed out and mills were indicating rebar offers in the low-€600s/t delivered against €570-580/t delivered in mid-September. Local mills in Germany sold most of their quantities at lower prices, so they could try to increase their prices now, a market participant said. Offers of German rebar in coils were indicated at around €650/t delivered locally, but discounts were deemed to be still available. Small lots of rebar were available at €640/t delivered by German mills, while fabricators in the western part of the country quoted 1,000-2,000t cut and bend rebar lots around €20/t lower. Even lower cut and bent prices were available in other regions of the country, a trader said. "The high interest rates have really hurt the housing sector and our sales volumes are down by 50pc from last year," he added.
Italian rebar was offered at around €600/t delivered to Germany and rebar in coils was quoted at €620-630/t higher, with demand reported to improve somewhat. Spanish rebar was heard still available at similar levels on cfr terms to northwestern Europe, while offers to Baltic countries were heard at €620/t cfr last week.
In Poland the levels of €600/t delivered and slightly below were reported to be still achievable for rebar, while offers were similar to German indications.
Fob offers for Italian rebar were indicated at €570-580/t fob but failed to attract customers as cheaper options were available in the market. Bulgarian rebar offers to Romania rose to €610-620/t delivered, with slightly higher levels indicated locally.
In the import segment, Algerian longs prices were reported at $550-560/t fob, while Egyptian offers stood at $550-560/t fob for rebar and $565-575/t fob for wire rod. Asian suppliers remained on the downward track, quoting mesh quality grade at $525-550/t fob, with Indonesian material available at the lower edge of the range. But after the "other country" quota for wire rod was promptly filled this quarter and significant volumes were reported already booked for the next period some European buyers turned to imports of wire rod from Turkey, with rebar in coils being also in demand in some regions. Sales of rebar in coils were concluded at $560-580/t fob from Turkey manly to the Balkan region, with wire rod deals done at $575-585/t fob since early October. Negotiations for drawing quality wire rod were heard under way in Spain, while requests for rebar in coils were also heard from Baltic countries.
