In the first 10 days of June, the Italian domestic ferrous scrap market has been weakening, while scrap traders have posted cautious price reductions, according to Assofermet, the Italian association of traders of iron, steel, non-ferrous metals, ferrous scrap, hardware and similar goods.
On the other hand, the scarce availability of scrap for prompt delivery has been exerting an influence, with the low volumes of stocks held by scrap traders not permitting the expansion of demand usually recorded right after the start of a downtrend.
Also, in other EU markets ferrous scrap prices are decreasing slightly, and quotations have gone down marginally as compared to the previous month.
On the export side, demand is good even though scrap prices have softened despite the influence of the euro-dollar exchange rate.
Finally, in May about 96,000 mt of pig iron and 9,500 mt of scrap were imported via Port Marghera, Venice.