An employee of siderweb says: <<The anti-Covid vaccine and its arrival on the market seems to have had a miraculous effect: round, wire rod and billets are now living an authentic Golden Moment, with prices which are rapidly increasing>>.
Another sector operator confirms that: <<the round reached the 200 euro “basis” per ton and it is definitely aiming to the maximum values of recent years (the highest, in the last five, was 234 euro in December 2018) and movements, although not massive, are rapidly growing>>.
Another insider explains that in Italy >>there are producers who ask 250/260 euro per ton, with peaks of 290/300 euro for the “network” good, while others are waiting to “make price” according to the updates related to scrap>>.
The trend, explained to siderweb, <<appears to be consolidated, as much as it is expected a prosecution in the first months of 2021>>, although someone points out that <<we need to be careful, because such important and sudden increases may be followed by equally rapid descents>>.
Even the wire rod seems to be in great health: <<We record quotations of 570 euro “ex works” per ton (it would be the highest in five years, considering that it would overcome the 568 euro of August 2018) on the international market and 550 euro on the national one>>.
All of this is caused by <<the lack of producers able to satisfy an important demand like that coming from the downstream market. The situation – an insider says – could change with the arrival of wire rod of the new ABS system, however it is too early to understand what will happen>>.
Finally the billets: <<This is the classic “intermediate product” – this is the explanation gathered by siderweb – which takes advantage of the round and wire rod’s performances, given that on the international market we are heading to the 550 euro “fob” per ton (the maximum of these last five years was 546 euro in March 2018) and that producers don’t seem willing to raise the output, suggesting further future increases>>.
The final summary made by an insider, is that <<the makret, which has been under pressure for too long, at the moment it seems to be under a sort of “spring effect” which is causing a rapid growth of prices with an unexpected violence, but the impression is that it is not a flash in the pan>>.
SOURCE: SIDERWEB.COM
