The steelmaker is idling production lines in Italy and France due to unsustainable production costs, a source at the company said. The company's merchant bar production line in Switzerland, where it mainly produces rebar, will also be idled.
Expensive energy, high scrap and raw material prices, especially in Italy, and low consumption in Europe have started to erode margins. The company will increase the price of merchant bar from stock in Europe by €20/tonne ($21.8) from 10 July.
As activity in the long steel market in both Italy and France continues to stagnate, buyers are only buying back-to-back despite low inventories, pushing for lower prices. Beltrame will continue to shut merchant bar production in Europe over the summer to address the overcapacity issue, if needed.
According to market sources in Italy, values are currently at a base delivery level of €360-380/t ($404-414) depending on tonnage. Domestic values hover around €770-800/t when extra sizes are included, sources said.
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