The Romanian long steel market has remained weak this week, with no signs of an improvement in demand or financial factors. Although Romanian long steel spot traders raised their prices somewhat last week, in reaction to the poor outlook they have decided to follow the sole local rebar producer's stable prices and also keep their offers unchanged from the previous week. In addition, the approaching summer holiday period in August means that business will be extremely quiet until September.
"Since August is a holiday month and there will be hardly any demand. I don't expect things will pick up anytime soon and they will remain quieter," a trader told SteelOrbis.
The domestic producer’s local rebar prices are currently the same as in the previous week at €575-580/mt ex-works. Similarly, domestic spot offers are unchanged at €570-590/mt ex-warehouse. Furthermore, wire rod spot prices in Romania have remained stable week on week at €580-595/mt ex-warehouse.
While many Romanian traders still hesitate to restock their warehouses owing to the slow local demand, the majority of import offers have remained relatively stable from last week. As a result, Greece is offering rebar and wire rod at €645-660/mt CFR and €635-650/mt CFR, while Egypt has been offered at €555-560/mt CFR and €565-570/mt CFR, respectively. Similarly, Moldova has offered rebar at €590-600/mt CPT, while Bulgaria has been offering at €600-610/mt CPT. Meanwhile, Turkey's rebar offers have been decreasing week on week and, based on mills’ prices of $570-585/mt FOB and freight costs of $25-30/mt, the levels to Romania should be at about €550-570/mt CFR at the current currency exchange rate of €1 = $1.09.