Despite the continuing bleak outlook caused by the lack of demand, Romanian long steel traders have chosen to keep their prices stable week on week. Furthermore, with the beginning of the summer holidays throughout Europe, including Romania, trade is expected to remain weak until the end of August. Though the market seems to have entered its holiday period, a few Romanian long spot traders stated that they are providing discounts to serious purchasers.
The sole producer’s rebar prices have remained at €575-580/mt ex-works for the time being, while Romanian rebar traders have also kept their prices unchanged week on week at €570-590/mt ex-warehouse.
In the meanwhile, the persistent lack of demand in the wire rod market is the main cause of the lack of movement in offer prices. As a result, most traders' offers have remained stable at around €580-595/mt ex-warehouse compared to the previous week.
In the import sector, however, while no deals have been recorded, sources say Romanian traders have an interest in importing. One of the most attractive possibilities right now is Turkey whose rebar offers have been stable since last week, and, based on mills’ prices of $570-585/mt FOB and freight costs of $25-30/mt, the Turkish price levels to Romania should be at about €550-570/mt CFR at the current currency exchange rate of €1 = $1.08. A similar stability has been observed in Egypt's rebar and wire rod offers, which have remained at €555-560/mt CFR and €565-570/mt CFR since last week, respectively. In addition, Greece continues to offer rebar and wire rod at unchanged levels of €645-660/mt CFR and €635-650/mt CFR, respectively. While Moldova and Bulgaria are offering rebar at €590-600/mt CPT and €600-610/mt CPT, respectively.