Some Italian producers have stopped selling rebar due to continued falling quotations. Sales however, are resuming in Northern Italy but the level of orders is extremely low especially in the South. Margins are under pressure and in the last week of July prices have surrendered the high end of the range of €390/t ex-works seen in the beginning of July, industry sources tell Kallanish.

“By the end of this week sales activity will cease anyway due to the holiday outages. Most mills and distributors will shut down until August 31. When we get back to work, scrap price movements will dictate rebar [… price] changes but to me demand will remain low over the last quarter. This week the market is very calm. From Rome down we have no orders,” one sales executive comments.

At the moment local rebar is sold at €380/t ($417/t) ex-works while Italian material is exported to Algeria at €370-380/t fob with letter of credit, sources suggest.

Meanwhile, the situation is similar in France when most mills and distributors have already started their holidays. French mills will stop for 3 to 4 weeks in August and will carry out maintenance works. French stockists interviewed by Kallanish in July have been struggling with rebar sales. The indicative price range is roughly on the Italian levels at €375-390/t ex-works, Kallanish hears.