There has still been no turnaround in the southern European longs market, where demand remains barely sufficient, while energy costs prevent significant price reductions. Steel mills are adopting the solution of working at a reduced pace, with prolonged closures expected starting from the third week of July.
In Italy, rebar producers had declared their aim to achieve increases of up to €380/mt ex-works base (€645/mt ex-works including regular extras), but the feasible price range currently remains between €340/mt and €360/mt ex-works base (€605-625/mt ex-works including regular extras), and this with much difficulty. "Demand is ridiculous, with few negotiations and few orders," an Italian source commented, adding that, only with closures of at least two or three weeks longer than the traditional mid-August shutdown, it might be possible to raise prices towards €370-380/mt ex-works base (€635-645/mt including regular extras). "If this does not happen, it will be difficult to achieve increases: producers' warehouses are full of material," the source said. Wire rod has also remained stable at €645-655/mt delivered for drawing quality and €625-635/mt delivered for mesh quality.
The export segment is also very weak, particularly to Germany. The feasible price for rebar from Italy has been reported as stable at around €560-570/mt ex-works or €600-610/mt delivered, with few volumes offered. Ex-Greece rebar offers have been reported at €620-630/mt FOB and wire rod offers at around €610-620/mt FOB, stable week on week.
Regarding imports, ex-Turkey offers have been reported stable in dollar terms but have decreased slightly in euro terms due to exchange rate fluctuations. Rebar is currently offered at €560-565/mt CFR southern Europe and wire rod at €565-570/mt CFR. Ex-Algeria rebar and wire rod offers have been reported at around €565/mt CFR and ex-Egypt offers at €560-565/mt CFR for rebar and €570-580/mt CFR for wire rod. Finally, a sale of about 20,000 mt of wire rod from Indonesia to Europe has been reported at a price of $500/mt FOB, which should correspond to approximately €500-510/mt CFR, considering a freight rate of $50/mt and the current exchange rate of $1 = €0.92.