Prices in Poland for domestic steel fittings and wire rod remained unchanged in the week to Friday, December 19, amid subdued trading and low demand due to the approaching end-of-year holidays, trade sources told Fastmarkets.
Fastmarkets' weekly price estimate for rebar steel rods, domestic, excluding VAT, in Poland on Friday was 2400-2450 zloty ($669-683) per ton, unchanged week to week.
At the moment, the demand for Polish fittings in the market has been negligible, as production slows down during the winter months, market sources said. Estimates of real prices were announced at the level of 2400-2450 zlotys per ton of CPT, as in the previous week.
According to the distributor, some factories in the country expected higher prices for rebar in January, about 2,500 zlotys per ton of CPT, but they believed that these prices were unacceptable because demand was still low.
The source said that the plants plan to increase their supply in January due to rising scrap metal prices and new regulations, including the EU Carbon Boundary Regulation Mechanism (CBAM), which will enter into force on January 1.
But they said it was still "not easy to imagine" what would happen to the market in the new year in terms of costs and price increases.
As for imports, proposals from Germany were heard at a price of 580 euros ($680) per tonne delivered.
On Friday, proposals for the price of 2650 zlotys per ton of high-quality wire rod for drawing were heard. They were at the top of the estimates of real market prices, which were announced in the range of 2600-2650 zlotys per ton during the same assessment period.
Fastmarkets' weekly estimate of prices for domestically produced steel rod (drawing quality) supplied from Poland on Friday was 2600-2650 zlotys per ton, which has been stable since the second half of November.
A source close to the consumer did not expect wire rod prices to change until the end of January, while the industry was preparing for the holiday holidays.
The source said that factories may try to raise prices, but noted that any increase would depend on the effects of new trade rules in 2026.
"We have to wait and see the effect of CBAM," the source said, adding that factories are waiting for new regulations to appear before raising prices, because "otherwise it will be difficult for the market to accept any increase."
Author: David Montagnier
Fastmarkets.com
