Italian scrap market waits for summer holidays to end

With Italy still on holiday, trading in the local Italian scrap market is at very low levels. The only purchases done this week were from alternative suppliers such as Germany, France and Eastern Europe. Some of these purchases indicate a €20-50/mt increase in terms of price, while one mill only accepted a rise of €10-20/mt, SteelOrbis understands. One Italian market player stated, “We can say that domestic trading is absent.”

Italian market players are waiting for the holiday to end to see how the domestic market will react. Natural gas and electricity prices in Italy are also rising, which will inevitably impact on Italian plants’ decisions about production in the coming weeks. “The international scrap market is also a factor to be considered after the holiday as well as the real demand we will face when we return to work,” a source commented.

Under the current conditions, SteelOrbis’ local Italian scrap market reference prices have increased on the upper end to cover the rises accepted by some mills. Also, German scrap suppliers have expressed their expectations for a rise in prices in September amid disruptions in transportation. It is known that commitments from previously signed contracts have not been completely met in the EU due to the mentioned disruptions. The slow flow of scrap in the EU is expected to impact Italy after the holiday.

Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.