Market sources confirm to Kallanish that ArcelorMittal is announcing higher target prices for long products across Europe, in a bid to recover some of the margin loss prompted by increased scrap and energy prices over the summer.

New offer levels are reported to be at €40/tonne above the latest available quotes for all commodity grades, as well as for new monthly and quarterly contracts.

Demand for longs in Europe remains relatively slow, though steelmakers believe that stock levels in the supply chain are depleted and are therefore optimistic that a rebound could be seen soon. “Confidence should come back to the market as we have seen several consecutive quarters characterised by a low demand scenario, something we have not seen since the 2008-2009 crisis,” one source says.

Northern European and Italian rebar prices have remained more or less stable since the beginning of June, according to Kallanish. In late June, ArcelorMittal raised its offers, but this increase was not accepted by the market.