Buyers of long products in Poland have withstood the price increases undertaken by factories in recent weeks, especially in the wire rod segment, Fastmarkets reported on Friday, February 6.
High competition and the availability of cheap imported processed products were cited as key reasons to counteract price increases.
A source from among the buyers of wire rod said that nails (a finished product made of high-quality wire rod, code CN 7317) are not included in the Carbon Boundary Regulation Mechanism (CBAM) and, therefore, can be imported at no additional cost.
Meanwhile, the screws (another production product, CN 7318 code) do fall under CBAM.
In such circumstances, some wire rod buyers have refused to raise prices for high-quality wire rod for drawing, as they face difficulties in covering these costs, at least in the nail segment.
At the same time, factories are under pressure due to rising production costs, especially for scrap metal and electricity.
Offers ranged from 2750-2950 zlotys (770-826 dollars) per tonne delivered, while reasonable prices were estimated at 2700-2780 zlotys per tonne delivered.
The weekly price estimate for steel rod (drawing quality) supplied to Poland, according to Fastmarkets, decreased to 2700-2780 zlotys per ton on February 6, down by 20-50 zlotys from 2750-2800 zlotys per ton on January 30.
In the rebar segment, customer behavior was similar, but the reason for the decrease in demand was seasonally low activity in the construction sector and a colder than usual winter.
The plants' offers ranged from 2650-2700 zlotys per ton without VAT, while transactions for the reporting period were concluded at the level of 2550-2600 zlotys without VAT.
Fastmarkets' weekly price estimate for steel rebar, domestic, cpt, Poland, as of February 6 was 2550-2600 zlotys, compared with 2600-2650 zlotys per ton as of January 30.
Author: Vlada Novokreschenova
Fastmarkets.com
