The Romanian longs market's long-standing bearish trend has persisted this week, with a downward mood continuing to prevail. As a result, Romanian traders have had no alternative but to reduce their offer prices mainly due to the persistently poor demand and local financial obstacles.
“Demand is fairly bad currently. Lots of customers are complaining about the lack of demand and payment issues,” a trader told SteelOrbis
Over the past week, Romanian traders have decreased their rebar prices to about €585-600/mt ex-warehouse, from €600-620/mt ex-warehouse before.
Meanwhile, the sole domestic rebar producer has kept its prices unchanged week on week at €600-605/mt ex-works. However, market sources indicate that the producer is offering discounts to serious purchasers but is experiencing some supply challenges.
“The sole producer has kept its offers stable, although we have heard from the market that it is providing serious purchasers with discounts of roughly €10/mt. However, we also hear of some availability issues,” a trader said SteelOrbis.
In the wire rod segment, the downward trend has also persisted as the market mood remains depressed. Traders' prices are presently at around €590-610/mt ex-warehouse, down from €600-615/mt ex-warehouse seen last week.
On the other hand, while interest in importing also remains low, there have been some import offers. Ex-Moldova rebar offers remain stable at €620/mt CPT, while Turkish rebar offers to Romania based on a €1 = $1.07 exchange rate and freight costs of €25-30/mt have decreased by €5/mt to €560-585/mt CFR since last week. In addition, ex-Egypt offers for rebar and wire rod have been reported stable week on week at €590/mt CFR and €600/mt CFR, respectively.