According to source data, rebar prices in Northwest Europe increased by €15/mt to €635/mt ex-works in the past week.
For hot rolled coil, local prices were seen stable at €730/mt ex-works in the Ruhr in the middle of last week.
Despite the expected increases in domestic flat steel prices, uncertainties about producers' ability to reach target levels come into focus. Among these uncertainties are concerns that plans by major steel mills to reactivate their currently inactive blast furnaces may lead to an increase in demand in the coming months, creating a conflict between producers' price increase targets and weak demand.
Production capacities in Europe in general are expected to increase in January, and blast furnaces that had been inactive during the New Year's week due to concerns about low demand were reportedly reactivated.
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