Until the middle of June Italian scrap prices maintained their strength, with prices higher than international levels; however, for the last three weeks prices have been a downward trend, losing €30-40/mt.
The abovementioned decrease is due to an alignment with international prices which are now recovering somewhat, with the result that Italian and international prices are converging towards the same level.
The scrap market in Italy is suffering from the weakness in the longs market, in particular in the rebar market. Some producers have already cut their production levels with long summer holiday closures forecasted.
Scrap suppliers are behaving in contrasting ways. Some suppliers under financial pressure are selling due to the fear of heavy decreases, while some others free of financial pressure are not selling in order to avoid creating panic in the market.
As regards stocks, there are some shortages for good quality materials, while there is no problem in providing standard and low scrap qualities.
Currently, demolition scrap is in the range €250-270/mt delivered, shredded stands at €280-290/mt delivered, while busheling is around €305-315/mt delivered. It is important to underline that these prices are related to low volumes, and so they could change for several reasons depending on customers, agreements and geographical locations.
As for foreign trade, there are no exports because of the higher Italian prices, while there are also no imports due to some problems with customs at the borders.