Italian rebar is stable on August but expected to slide slightly on continuing falling scrap prices in the country and low demand, market sources tell Kallanish.

Making the weak local demand situation worse, buyers are refraining from booking material this week because the market is waiting for further price slides. “We have never seen a July and September like this. No one is buying and there will be little or no orders this week. Starting from the end of next week we should have a better visibility into the near future,” one sales executive comments.

Other European rebar players are also pushing into the Italian market, especially from France and Spain. This is creating an extremely competitive sales environment, sources say. Rebar exports to northern Africa have fallen because credit lines have been reduced.

Algerian buyers are also putting off their purchases waiting for prices to go down internationally in line with the current raw material prices fall. So far major Italian September exports to northern Africa have not resumed following the traditional summer lull.

At the moment the base ex-works price for Italian rebar is €400-410/t ($451-461/t), sources suggest.