In southern Europe, rebar offers are holding steady, as producers maintain their previous price increases. Meanwhile, wire rod offers are increasing in both the local and export markets, with demand remaining relatively stable.
In the local rebar market in Italy, offers have remained stable, ranging at €330-350/mt ex-works base (€595-615/mt ex-works, including regular extras). Sources indicate that some orders have been finalized at the lower end of this range. Conversely, drawing quality wire rod has been quoted at approximately €620-630/mt delivered in Italy, reflecting increases of up to €50/mt in the past month. Mesh quality wire rod has been reported at around €600/mt delivered in Italy.
In the export market, stable offers have been noted for ex-Italy rebar at approximately €580-590/mt FOB, albeit with limited requests. In the wire rod export segment, prices have risen in November due to material shortages. Sources indicate that ex-Italy drawing quality wire rod is expected to sell for around €650/mt delivered in markets like Poland, while competitive offers for mesh quality wire rod are coming from Ukraine at €625/mt delivered in eastern Europe (delivery January 2024).
There is uncertainty among various market players regarding the sustainability of these prices into January, and some customers appear skeptical. Ex-Greece offers have been reported at €600-620/mt FOB for rebar and €600-610/mt FOB for wire rod, compared to €600/mt and €610/mt FOB two weeks ago, respectively. Ex-Spain rebar offers appear to have increased to €590/mt FOB, compared with the last reported prices of €570-580/mt FOB.
Some import offers continue to be noteworthy. Ex-Turkey rebar offers have been reported at €560-580/mt CFR southern Europe (considering the current exchange rate of $1 = €0.92). However, it seems that acceptance of the upper limit requires more time, and the price has increased from €555-565/mt CFR a week ago. Ex-Turkey wire rod, on the other hand, has been reported as stable at around €570-580/mt CFR.
Ex-Egypt offers have also been reported stable, at approximately €555-570/mt CFR for both rebar and wire rod. New ex-Algeria rebar and wire rod offers have been reported at €600/mt CFR northwestern Europe, while ex-Uzbekistan rebar offers have been reported at €605-610/mt delivered. Additionally, ex-Asia wire rod offers have been reported at €560/mt CFR.