Long products prices in Italy remain stable amid very weak activity, extremely limited restocking ahead of the August outages, and sufficient inventory levels to cover current demand, Callanish notes.
Prices for some long positions have started to decline, while others are holding up because sales are still limited to very small volumes for which customers do not negotiate prices, and not because demand is high.,
Factories remain under pressure from high production costs. Shutdowns were carried out in June and July, which also contributed to falling scrap metal prices in Italy along with lower international levels. Manufacturers are cutting production to balance supply and demand after months of low sales. Some of them are currently idle and plan to resume production in August to take advantage of the lower electricity costs typical for this month.
Agents and distributors report a slight increase in demand for rolled pipes due to the introduction of new EU quotas, with activity increasing slightly since last week. Sales of long products, in particular, long timber, remain particularly low.
Sources in the processing industry do not expect a recovery in demand for long products until August and say that the seasonal slowdown is already in full swing. Two sources in the processing industry describe the second quarter as one of the worst in a very long time.
However, two major distributors claim that they have managed to cope with the difficult conditions by offering additional services such as combining multiple sizes and brands in one truck and delivering small volumes that customers currently require.
Prices for bars with delivery remain stable week after week and amount to 340-350 euros per ton (388.5–400 USD per ton) or 760-770 euros per ton, taking into account additional sizes. However, this is about 20 euros less per ton compared to June. The cost of Spanish raw materials is about 330 euros per ton.
Prices for sections of the first category also fluctuate steadily at the level of 800-810 euros per ton, sources say.
Author: Natalia Capra, France
Kallanish.com
