Prices continue to rise in the Italian steel reinforcement market
Steel rebar prices in the Italian domestic market continued to rise during the week until Wednesday, August 6, driven by limited supply and seasonally high demand.
Italian manufacturers have entered the traditional maintenance period and are expected to resume operations by the end of August. Under these conditions, there were not enough materials to satisfy the increased interest of buyers.
"Steel prices are rising compared to July. End-user demand remains above the average for previous periods, although it is highly fragmented," said one of the sources on the buyer's side. "In response to this situation, steel mills have increased their quotations over the past month, which was caused by high demand and a shortage of available raw materials.
"There is a real race to secure supplies, and factories are reluctant to sell in order not to worsen their own situation," he added.
In northern Italy, transactions reached 570-590 euros (664-687 dollars) per ton from the factory. No new deals were reported in the southern regions, but according to market participants, prices there have traditionally been about 30 euros per ton higher.
New data from the factories showed that in the north they amount to about 600 euros per ton, and in the south - 620 euros per ton.
Fastmarkets' weekly price estimate for rebar steel products, domestic and exported to Italy, rose to 570-610 euros per ton on August 6 from 550-590 euros per ton on July 30.
Vlada Novokreschenova
Fastmarkets.com