At the high point of March purchase negotiations, the German scrap market has remained largely stable in a context of strong uncertainty.
Mills’ demand is geared towards stockpiling, with scrap purchase prices generally stable or slightly down - by €2.5-5/mt - compared to the previous month. Only in one case has a large producer granted scrap price increases of about €15-20/mt on all scrap grades, but it was only to realign with current market levels. The price currently paid by the same producer for E1 scrap is reported at around €295m/mt delivered to mill.
As far as scrap availability is concerned, there are some positive signs, also thanks to the improvement in weather conditions that has made transportation via waterways much easier. During winter months, frozen rivers had slowed down scrap transport towards yards and had increased costs.
On the export side, there are still "clear difficulties", with HMS I/II 80:20 collection prices at around €260-265/mt DAP ARAG (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Ghent) ports, down by €5/mt on the lower end of the range. In addition, the increases in energy and transport prices are also causing slowdowns in scrap collection, as local suppliers to export yards are unwilling to sell in the current scenario of uncertainty.
