The Italian steel scrap market opened the month of February with a slight decrease in local quotations due to the large shipment volumes seen in the second half of January, according to Assofermet, the Italian association of traders of iron, steel, non-ferrous metals, ferrous scrap, hardware and similar goods.
Meanwhile, other European markets are showing a tendency towards lower average quotations compared to last month, although prices on US dollar basis still maintain their strength.
Scrap collection has encountered difficulties in the last two weeks due to the extreme weather conditions across Europe, including Italy.
So far in 2012, levels of supply and demand in the local Italian scrap market have continued to remain balanced, keeping average quotations at relatively high levels and also limiting the range of price fluctuations.