Polish long products manufacturers withdraw offers amid price uncertainty; rebar prices are rising
Polish manufacturers of rebar and wire rod withdrew their offers from the market during the week until Friday, March 6, amid growing concerns about rising energy prices, especially for gas and raw materials, Fastmarkets reported.
According to market sources, assessing the current level of the Polish long products market remains a difficult task after the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, which has had a strong impact on international markets.
"What I hear from the market is that steel mills don't want to show offers while they check the situation with energy and raw materials," the source said, adding that transportation costs are also increasing due to the conflict.
As of Friday afternoon, it became known in Fastmarkets that several manufacturers had withdrawn their offers from the market. Another source said that during the week everything "went crazy", the factories did not provide any offers or tried to cancel current orders.
During the week, there were reports of offers for fittings at a price of about 2670-2820 zlotys ($723-763) per ton of CPT, but sources said they were later withdrawn. Despite this, some sources indicated that the current delivery time of the mill remains at about four weeks.
Some market participants expect that manufacturers may soon return to the market with a higher level of supply due to changing geopolitical dynamics and growing uncertainty, Fastmarkets reported.
Meanwhile, other market participants said that although the level of demand in the country remains low, there are some early signs that the situation is starting to improve after several months of cold weather.
"The weather is improving and construction sites are also ordering rebar, so I expect demand for rebar to increase as well, but right now I can confirm that trading activity is still low," the source said.
Despite reports of low liquidity in the market, on Friday, stockbrokers concluded several transactions with rebar at a price of 2700 zloty per ton.
Fastmarkets' weekly price estimate for steel rebar bars produced on the Polish domestic market on Friday was 2550-2700 zlotys per ton, an increase from 2550-2600 zlotys per ton in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the price level for wire rod remained unchanged, and no new transactions were reported during the evaluation period.
Fastmarkets' weekly price estimate for domestic steel rod (drawing quality) supplied to Poland remained stable at 2700-2780 zlotys per ton as of Friday.
Author: David Montagnier
Fastmarkets.com