After a month of strong price rises, scrap prices in Italy could very well register a contrary tendency in June, thus says Cesare Pasini, president of Nuovo Campsider (association of Italian scrap consumers). "In May we observed quotation increases in Italy's domestic market in the range of €110-120/mt, depending on the category. Moreover, in the French and German markets, there was a €110/mt rise." This has led to a widening of the gap between the Italian prices, which are higher, and the cheaper non-Italian ones.
As regards imports, "There are lively inflows by land and arrivals by sea are increasing." The mills' inventories "have returned to normal levels." Given these conditions and the gap between prices in Italy and the rest of Europe, "there could be a readjustment of quotations in June, with Italian scrap prices seeing a downward movement. Besides, I would not exclude a downward correction in the prices of scrap outside of Italy," Pasini concluded.