The most relevant issue in the local German scrap market this month has been the acquisition of Scholz Group by the French-based waste recycler Derichebourg, as SteelOrbis has already reported.
“This is something big”, a source commented. “It will have great influence on the European scrap market”, he concluded. Derichebourg is in fact active in 13 countries and employs roughly 5,500 people all over the world. The takeover, expected to become effective in the second half of 2026, comes after a period of financial struggles for Scholz Group, historical company active in the scrap business founded in 1872.
During May, scrap demand from mills has remained at a good level, but the German scrap market has been characterized by a fragmentation that has become usual in the past few months. In the northern part of Germany, scrap purchase prices have increased on average by €10-15/mt. In the east they have increased by €5/mt to €15/mt depending on the mill, but some of them have kept them unchanged. One producer in the west is expected to shut down one of its blast furnaces for a period of around three months for maintenance, thus their scrap demand will be downsized. In the southwest of the country, scrap price increases have been reported at around €5/mt, whereas int the Saar region the hike has been reported at around €10/mt.
Moreover, a lack of higher scrap grades continues to weigh on local scrap availability. “Due to deindustrialization, companies are relocating abroad, and good and high-quality industrial scrap is being outsourced, thus these materials are now no longer readily available on the domestic market,” a German association stated in their monthly report.
If export demand remains firm and logistic costs remain high, the local German scrap trend for the next few weeks is expected to remain stable on an elevated level, especially if scrap availability remains tight for certain grades. In addition, if mills will continue to purchase according to their punctual needs, the market fragmentation will become somehow structural.
