According to the information gathered by SteelOrbis in the Italian scrap market, the market scenario has remained mostly unchanged this week, with traders waiting for mills to make a move for March purchases.
"Everyone is waiting. As usual, traders have expectations of stability or price increases, and mills are seeking stability or price declines," a source commented, who believes that both purchases from abroad and in the domestic market in Italy will be made at unchanged prices in March.
The key factors to be considered are mills’ capacity utilization rates - and consequently their level of demand - and the sluggishness of the international market, with Turkey and China still slow due to Ramadan and the recent Chinese New Year holiday, respectively. In addition, mills' margins remain very tight and scrap price increases in January and February do not leave them much room to accept further rises, also considering that the finished steel segment is still bearish.
According to reports from both producers and traders, however, Italian mills are not in a great hurry to buy. Some are well-supplied and have no intention of increasing their purchase prices, while it is likely that other producers with smaller scrap yards will agree to little upward adjustments for some scrap categories such as E8 and E8C, which are currently the most requested in the Italian market.
Anyway, the volumes involved would not be enough to outline a market trend, which will probably settle on unchanged prices, at least in the first half of March.
Some mills are even thinking about reducing scrap prices by €5/mt, and one of them is reported to be waiting for a ship with a 25,000 mt scrap cargo that should also contain high-quality material.
Consequently, scrap prices in the domestic market in Italy will remain unchanged at the following levels, while levels as high as €345-350/mt have been reported for E8 scrap.
| Quality | Average spot price (€/t) | Average spot price (€/t) | Average spot price (€/t) |
| Period | 26 February | 19 February | 12 February |
| Turning (E5) | 285-300 | 285-300 | 285-300 |
| Demolitions (E1/E3) | 280-320 | 280-320 | 280-320 |
| Crushed (E40) | 320-345 | 320-345 | 320-345 |
| Sheet (E8) | 330-340 | 330-340 | 330-340 |
Prices are to be understood as made steel mill, excluding VAT.