At the end of monthly scrap purchase negotiations in the German market in February, increases of €10-25/mt have been confirmed, depending on the scrap grade and on the producer.
According to some sources, in the northern part of Germany scrap price increases have settled at €10-25/mt, whereas in the eastern part they were more pronounced, in the range of €20-25/mt, with the aim of narrowing the gap between local scrap prices and neighboring countries’ scrap prices. In addition, a large producer contributed to these hikes due to its need to replenish its scrap stocks because of the restart of one of its plants located in the Berlin area after a very long halt of production.
Finally, in the western, southwestern and southern parts of Germany, the scrap prices paid by mills have been reported at around €10-15/mt higher month on month, also based on Austria's decision to grant a €15/mt increase on all scrap grade prices in February.
Therefore, the upward pressure on scrap prices recorded in other European countries has also been confirmed in Germany, where it has been reflected particularly in higher finished steel prices in February.
Finally, to stimulate demand from the steel segment, Germany’s Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider has called on the country’s automotive industry to source more raw materials domestically, and he advocated the creation of lead markets for steel produced using green hydrogen. According to the minister, carmakers have so far been reluctant to adopt green steel at scale. To address this, he suggested introducing new incentives.
