A cargo ship carrying 1,500 metric tons of scrap metal crashed into a lock gate on the Moselle river on its way to the port of Mertert, Luxembourg, on Sunday, December 8. The gate was severely damaged.
The German Waterways and Shipping Authority (WSA) claims that 70 ships are now unable to leave Luxembourg, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate on the Moselle towards the Rhine, and that the repairs will take about three months. Consequently, the route will be inaccessible until March 2025.
The Moselle is an important supply route for raw materials and resources for local companies, and according to some sources the interruption from Luxembourg and Trier to Koblenz is likely to have an impact on scrap supplies at the beginning of next year.
Moreover, since many suppliers to Luxembourg’s ArcelorMital use the Moselle river for their deliveries, this is likely to affect the company’s supplies for the next few months. German scrap exporter Theo Steil also will suffer due to this incident. In fact, three of its largest scrap yards are located in Trier. According to reports, other players will have their raw material transports affected by this crash, specifically German steelmakers Dillinger Huttenwerke, Georgsmarienhutte Holding and Saarstahl.
Aside from the consequences of this incident in terms of supply, some local collectors have already reported a reduction of scrap collection prices by €5-20/mt depending on the buyer, and other sources also believe that this reduction has nothing to do with the accident. On the contrary, this would be the consequence of the general market conditions, i.e. “no exports and the subdued domestic scrap market. Many steel mills do not request scrap volumes”, as one local source commented.
SteelOrbis believes that, if the disruption of this water route continues for a long time, an upward correction in scrap prices may occur.