Germany’s domestic scrap prices continue to fall

The local German scrap market has continued to fall in the month of June. The recorded decline in prices was lower than the expectations stated in early June, but market players believe that there is more room for a further fall due to the approaching summer. “Since the summer holidays have started in some regions of the EU and will start in others, mills will cut their production utilization rates and their need for scrap will decline. Also, scrap export prices are exerting strong downward pressure on local quotations,” a German source reported.

According to another source, “In the European holiday season, scrap suppliers need exports but Turkey’s procurement is very slow and prices are falling with each deal.” SteelOrbis also hears that some export yards have large tonnages on hand that were bought at higher price levels. One of the traditional scrap suppliers to Turkey has given bids for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap to a German sub-collector at €250/mt DDP Antwerp. At the same time, all SteelOrbis contacts agree that scrap flow in Germany has nearly come to a halt following the recent price cuts.

According to the latest data provided by the BDSV, in the first 20 days of June local scrap prices have moved down by €88.2-107.4/mt month on month. Additionally, the year-on-year increase is now in the range of €34.1-88.6/mt. Prices are average prices for domestic transactions across Germany in the first 20 days of the given month. The prices are provided by Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Stahlrecycling-und Entsorgungsunternehmen e.V. (BDSV).

Specifications:

E1 - Old steel scrap: thickness ≥ 4 mm, maximum dimensions 1,5 m x 0,5 m x 0,5 m
E2/E8 - New steel scrap: maximum dimensions 1,5 m x 0,5 m x 0,5 m
E3 - Heavy old steel scrap: thickness ≥ 6 mm, maximum dimensions 1,5 m x 0,5 m x 0,5 m
E40 - Shredded scrap: excluding incinerator steel scrap and collection scrap; density ≥ 1,1 mt/m3, Fe ≥ 92%
E5M - Turnings: excluding iron and automatic steel turnings