Participants in the long steel market in the European Union were hoping for price stability through April after recent sluggish demand and cautious buying activity, sources within the sector told Fastmarkets this week.
"The Spanish market is weak in price terms but consumption is improving," one trader said. "European mills have been more aggressive [in terms of price] so there has not been much import activity. Prices are on the low side, although I would not expect them to go down any further."Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for domestic rebar in Southern Europe fell to ?,?485-515 ($545-579) per tonne delivered on Wednesday April 3, from ?,?515-520 per tonne delivered on March 27."We are mainly fighting to keep the current price level up, amid depressed demand, because April is a short [working] month with the Easter holidays [on Friday and Monday April 19 and 22]," one Southern European producer source said."If you mess up your pricing before the peak [construction] season starts, you...