The European scrap markets have remained largely silent this week, due to ongoing holidays and long weekends in many European countries. In Italy, for example, most market players have observed a few days of vacation for the National Republic Day (June 2), while other central European countries, such as Germany, Austria and Poland, are absent due to the long weekend for the Corpus Domini holiday (June 4).
The first rumors at the beginning of the month, however, point to a largely stable trend in European scrap markets, at least in the first half of June.
According to reports, mills’ demand for scrap in Italy has remained almost silent, as many of them have partially reduced their pace of production. On the traders’ side, however, there have been reports of a "hurry" to accept unchanged prices compared to previous deals, as if they were worried about possible price reductions.
In Germany, mills’ willingness seems aligned to a stable trend for June, although logistical disruptions are still very relevant and are causing problems in the supply not only of scrap, but also of other raw materials. The announcement by Austria's leading steel producer of a scrap purchase price increase by €10/mt had caused some concerns among market players in Italy and Germany earlier this week; however, it should be noted that, while most local steel producers in Germany had raised their scrap purchase prices by at least €10/mt in May, the Austrian producer had kept them unchanged. This rise, therefore, can be seen as a simple alignment with current market levels.
According to one source, the domestic scrap market in Spain is instead experiencing price increases of €5-10/mt, while the import market is decreasing by about €5/mt.
Finally, the scrap market in Poland has remained mostly silent, and no significant movement has been recorded.
