Domestic prices for Europe wire rod inched higher over the past week on good buying, tight availability and bullish feedstock costs, with market participants believing that the uptrend will continue into October, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday September 9.
*** Southern Europe
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Southern Europe, was €۴۵۰-۴۷۰ ($۵۳۱-۵۵۴) per tonne on September 9, widening from €۴۵۰-۴۶۰ per tonne a week earlier. In Italy, the price was largely stable. Most producers were offering wire rod at €۴۵۰-۴۶۰ per tonne delivered this week, the same as seven days ago, and this was largely accepted by buyers.
“The price is firm, and no discounts are possible. Mills plan another wave of price increases for October, going up by at least €۱۰ per tonne, given higher [costs for] scrap and tight supply,” one buyer said. “Now we can say there has been a good recovery of demand in September,” a second buyer said. Local producers were said to have low stocks of wire rod.
In Spain, meanwhile, producers managed to achieve higher prices in deals this week, around €۴۶۰-۴۷۰ per tonne delivered, up from €۴۵۰-۴۵۵ per tonne last week, sources said. “In Spain there is no boom in demand, but there is little wire rod available in the market, which is supporting [price] growth,” one mill source said.
*** Exports
The export price for mesh-quality wire rod from Southern European mills was fairly stable over the assessment week. Demand was reported to be slow in export outlets, and Southern mills preferred to focus on their domestic markets instead. “We are not offering for export now because the difference between European and overseas prices is too high. A price [for wire rod], given current scrap values, should be around €۴۳۰ per tonne fob minimum, no lower than this. But the bids we are getting are €۱۰-۱۵ per tonne lower,” one Southern European mill source said. “At the moment, we are not offering material for export, we are concentrating on the local market,” another mill source said. Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod, export, fob main port Southern Europe, was €۴۱۵-۴۳۰ per tonne on Wednesday.
*** Northern Europe
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh-quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, rose to €۴۶۰-۴۷۰ per tonne on Wednesday, from €۴۵۰-۴۶۰ per tonne last week. Demand for wire rod in the region remained strong over the week and that, coupled with limited supply, was pushing the price up, sources said. “Order intake in September is higher than last year. When we start October bookings, the price will go higher,” a mill source said.
“In the Benelux [region], Germany and France, demand is good,” one buyer said. “Wire rod availability is not huge, given that there is no quota left for [importing] countries, and [wire rod] export offers from Turkish and CIS suppliers are rising on bullish [costs for] scrap. However, I’m not sure if we can pass more increases downstream. October will be tough.” The scale of the price increase that producers were planning to implement for October bookings should be around €۲۰ per tonne, sources said.
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