The Italian scrap market has remained very quiet this week, amid international holidays (the Feast of Sacrifice, May 26-30, and Corpus Domini, June 4) and the preparation for the national holiday of June 2. Demand from mills has been reported at moderate levels, and production is expected to slow down in view of the summer.
Scrap traders’ and mills’ expectations are aligned overall: a stable market is expected for the month to come, since while it is true – on the one hand – that the lack of scrap availability should provide support to prices, on the other hand, the fundamentals of the finished steel market would suggest a slight decrease in both scrap purchase volumes and prices. As a result, these two opposing forces could lead the market to remain stable at May levels.
In fact, several steel producers are planning to slow down operations in view of the summer shutdowns, in order to lighten the market and support finished steel prices. Moreover, the absence of several international market players and the holiday for Republic Day in Italy (June 2) add to the weakness of the domestic scenario.
Having said that, scrap prices in the domestic market in Italy remain at last week’s levels, as shown in the table below:
| Quality | Average spot price (€/mt) | Average spot price (€/mt) | Average spot price (€/mt) |
| Period | May 29 | May 20 | April 30 |
| Turnings (E5) | 300-310 | 300-310 | 285-300 |
| HMS (E1/E3) | 295-325 | 295-325 | 285-315 |
| Shredded (E40) | 340-345 | 340-345 | 325-345 |
| Busheling (E8) | 335-345 | 335-345 | 330-340 |
Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.
