Although longs demand has remained sluggish, the sole Romanian rebar producer and local traders have decided to keep offers stable over the past week. In the meantime, some Romanian traders anticipate that the recent rebound seen in the Turkish scrap market will have an impact and boost long steel prices in the coming weeks. However, due to the currently low trading for longs in Romania, a few rebar suppliers have opted to provide discounts in order to spur sales.
Over the past week, prices from both the domestic mill and traders in Romania have remained unchanged at €630/mt ex-works and €610-635/mt ex-warehouse, respectively. Nonetheless, a few Romanian retailers who are struggling with low demand are a bit more flexible in their pricing and are selling rebar at about €600/mt ex-warehouse.
A similar unfavorable picture has been observed in the wire rod segment, where demand has been extremely slow and insufficient, but most traders are aiming to keep their offers stable at €610-625/mt ex-warehouse.
In the meantime, import offers are plentiful, but no new deals have been reported this week. According to sources, ex-Moldova rebar offers are stable week on week at €620-630/mt CPT, while Greece has offered rebar and wire rod at €615/mt CFR and €635/mt CFR, respectively. Egypt has also kept its rebar and wire rod prices to Romania stable at €565/mt CFR and €575/mt CFR, respectively. On the other hand, ex-Turkey offers have slid this week by €5/mt on the upper end to €565-580/mt CFR Romania, based on a €1 = $1.09 exchange rate and a freight cost of €25-30/mt.