Spot prices for long positions in Romania are rising amid rising costs, solid import offers and low inventories
The Romanian long products market has seen an increase in prices this week, mainly from traders, while the only domestic producer has kept its prices stable.
However, expectations of potential price increases from the manufacturer and ongoing rumors of higher target levels continue to support the overall market sentiment. Rising production costs, in particular higher energy prices, along with the continued upward trend in EU prices and more active import offers, have further reinforced the upward trend. Despite the ongoing liquidity problems and cautious buyer behavior, demand remains acceptable, which allows traders to test higher levels. In the rebar segment, stocks are still considered sufficient, which has somewhat limited the growth rate compared to other grades, although some purchases from Italy and Bulgaria were also noted during the week. However, in the wire rod segment, the price increase was more noticeable, mainly due to a significant decrease in availability in the warehouse, and sources note that supply cuts even led to some purchases in Greece.
According to market reports over the past week, rebar sales from Italy and Bulgaria were completed at a price of about 600 euros per ton of FCA and 630 euros per ton of CPT, respectively. Meanwhile, supplies in Bulgaria increased due to renewed interest, reaching 630-640 euros per ton compared to the previous week. In the wire rod segment, some purchases from Greece were also recorded at a price of about 620 euros per ton of FCA. On the other hand, nothing is known about purchases from suppliers from non-EU countries. The Egyptian plant has significantly expanded its offerings amid rising transportation costs: the price of rebar in April was 555-560 euros per ton, and for wire rod - 565-570 euros per ton, compared with 530 euros per ton and 540 euros per ton earlier. Turkish suppliers also increased their rebar offers to 535-550 euros per ton, compared with 500-520 euros per ton previously, based on the exchange rate of 1 euro = 1.15 US dollars and estimated transportation costs of 25-30 euros per ton, compared with 15-20 euros per ton in previous weeks.
In the local market, spot prices for rebar in Romania are currently 600-615 euros per ton from the warehouse, compared with 590-600 euros per ton from the warehouse in the previous week. The latest data from the domestic producer remains at the level of 590-595 euros per ton from the factory, while offers for a higher price of 600-605 euros per ton from the factory are still being tested on the market, although they have not been confirmed at the time of publication. In the wire rod segment, the offers increased more sharply, to