Long steel activity in Italy has been sluggish due to lower sales volumes and lower merchant bar prices.
Small volumes of merchant bars are trading at €480/tonne ($527) ex-works, while larger volumes are selling at €440-450/t. Local values including extra sizes hover around €870-900/t ex-works. Overall, prices were down by around €30/t compared to the previous month. Competition from Spanish and Eastern European cargoes remains significant.
March was a slightly better month for merchant bars and suppliers benefited from export sales, especially to Germany. Many customers and end-users took advantage of the quiet market and the public holidays on 25 April and 1 May to shut down their mills.
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