As March approaches and the weather improves, the sun has started to shine again on the Italian scrap market. The price declines which characterized the past month are over, and market players are already sensing the first signs of recovery. Current steel scrap quotations in Italy are as follows:
Scrap category |
Price (€/mt) |
Price ($/mt) |
HMS |
300-320 |
402-429 |
Shredded scrap |
330-350 |
442-469 |
Busheling scrap |
330-350 |
442-469 |
*Prices are delivered to customer, excluding VAT
In the last two weeks, average scrap prices in Italy have declined by around €10/mt, but the downtrend appears to have to come to an end. Indeed, the expectations of Italian scrap consumers' association Nuovo Campsider of a regression in average scrap quotations to early December levels were not fulfilled.
According to SteelOrbis sources, scrap availability is tight because of two factors: the slowdown in Italian industrial activity and the difficulties in scrap collection and transportation in the past month amid snowfalls and strikes. In this context, scrap suppliers are seeking price increases, while Italian steelmakers find it difficult to accept increased scrap costs given current finished product prices, especially in the domestic market. Currently, traders appear to have the upper hand, and so the abovementioned price ranges can be €5-10/mt higher on the upper end in the event of scrap bookings placed in a hurry.
Turkish steelmakers have a key role at the current time as they are showing interest in Italian scrap while they wait for their Romanian, Ukrainian and Russian suppliers to return to the market after shipping difficulties caused by heavy snowfalls and frozen waterways.
Market players interviewed by SteelOrbis state that their predictions for March are fairly positive because, even if the domestic steel market does not move upward, the international markets should supply all the necessary support for higher Italian scrap quotations.