The Italian scrap market has continued to be influenced by the difficult weather conditions, which have caused problems in transportation, leading to reduced availability of material. Steel mills' stocks are low at present. Meanwhile, demand for finished products is poor, and so the scrap buying activity of the steel producers has been weak. Although quotations for scrap have declined slightly, the mills are still under considerable pressure due to the difficulties they experience in transferring the high production costs on to their finished product prices. Nevertheless, it may be noted that the flats market seems to be reacting more positively than longs market.
Currently in the Italian market, the price for demolition scrap is at €200-210/mt (€10/mt less than last month), the shredded price is at €220-230/mt (down €5/mt on last month), and the price of busheling is at €225/mt for normal quality and at €235/mt for higher quality (both down €15/mt). All prices include delivery.
In the coming period, the market prices of scrap could see further declines. The future of the mills will depend on the demand for finished products: in the event of a recovery, producers will be able to increase their finished prices and consequently the burden of raw material costs will be lighter; otherwise, they will still continue to suffer.