OUTLOOK: Future of long steel market uncertain on Covid-19, trade wars - Irepas

The future of the global long steel market remains uncertain because of both the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and rising protectionism, with no recovery expected in the third quarter of this year, the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week.

A gradual slowdown in the construction industry in Europe due to Covid-19 is restraining steel long consumption, with a number of infrastructure projects having been either cancelled or delayed because of lockdown measures, Fastmarkets understands.
"New building permits in May were substantially lower than in March and April and many projects have either been put on hold or stopped. The public sector still has big infrastructure projects in the pipeline. However, since the Covid-19 crisis has kept everybody at home for almost three months, these projects have been delayed significantly," Irepas said.
The deterioration of the largest long-steel consuming industries has put pressure on steel prices, especially in the south of Europe with more strict and longer-running lockdowns, sources said.

Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Southern Europe was ?,?400-430 ($446-480) per tonne on June 3, down by ?,?10 per tonne week on week due...

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