According to the Italian scrap consumers association Nuovo Campsider, in May this year Italy's local scrap quotations moved on a sideways trend, while in the last days of May scrap supply contracts for June deliveries indicated decreases of €5-10/mt.
Cesare Pasini, chairman of Nuovo Campsider, commented, "In May, the local Italian scrap market remained stable, contrary to other ex-EU deliveries, whose average quotations went down by €5/mt. In Germany, local scrap supply prices went down by €10-15/mt." In this context, Italian steelmakers' domestic purchase prices should become realigned with the general European trend during the current month. As reported in the last market analysis by SteelOrbis, scrap traders feared that scrap spot prices could fall by up to €15/mt in June, while the decrease on the spot market, as stated by Nuovo Campsider, should reach €10/mt at most.
Mr. Pasini continued, "Steelmakers' scrap yard stock levels vary considerably, but we expect that the bad sentiment relating to the finished product market will produce a general slight decrease in raw material reserves held by steel mills." The Italian scrap market continues to be affected by lackluster demand for finished steel in Italy, especially for long steel.