The stable trend in the Italian scrap market has continued also in the past week. Steel producers still report having full warehouses and scrap suppliers have good material availability.
Some producers have implemented final downward adjustments in scrap purchase prices - in the order of €5-10/mt depending on the grade - but the situation remains basically unchanged compared to the beginning of the month. Some market participants believe that the first real changes will be seen towards the end of September or the beginning of October, when production restarts and mills will resume using significant volumes of scrap.
When asked about a possible recovery in scrap prices, most of the producers interviewed by SteelOrbis do not believe there are suitable conditions for this to happen, also because scrap demand on their side remains at low levels and the availability of scrap in the local market in Italy is currently good. “It’s not about scrap availability: we have enough offers, but demand is low”, the representative of an Italian producer stated.
"The reasons for the decline are to be attributed to the weakness in the finished steel segment, the lowkey presence of Turkey, and a greater availability of scrap both in domestic and international markets," a source from another Italian steel mill said.
On their side, scrap suppliers admit that there may be room for further declines in scrap prices, but, once they reach a certain level, they could begin to resist. " September is being a sluggish month, as I expected. We will really see the actual trend around mid-October," one scrap supplier commented.
In light of the above, scrap prices in Italy have remained almost unchanged this week, standing at the following levels:
| Quality | Average spot price (€/mt) | Average spot price (€/mt) |
| Period | Sept 18 | Sept 12 |
| Turnings (E5) | 280-300 | 280-300 |
| HMS (E1/E3) | 280-300 | 280-300 |
| Shredded (E40) | 330-345 | 330-345 |
| Busheling (E8) | 320-335 | 320-335 |
Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.
