Italian strip products distributors are decreasing prices by €30-35 per tonne in an attempt to off-load stocks by the end of the third quarter.

According to distributors, some service centres have decreased their prices in order to compete with others that had led the market down.

Service centres and stockists will not buy new material for Q4 until they decrease their current high stock levels. Traditionally July and August is a quiet period in southern Europe and demand decreases due to the summer holiday period.