Local Italian scrap market stable but set to decline

The mood in the local Italian scrap market has changed this week. Up until 10 days ago, sentiment was stable or slightly upward for April, like traditionally happens before holiday closures. Due to the continuous changes in Trump’s tariffs, however, uncertainty has increased among market players, who now believe that declines are possible in the coming days. Nonetheless, deals have been few, and scrap offers and scrap demand have been substantially balanced this week.

Producers mainly prefer scrap imports rather than local purchases, and deals from Germany and France have already marked some declines by €5/mt. Scrap demand from Italian mills has been on the low side this week, as in the previous week. “[Scrap] demand is low and there are no purchases” said a local scrap trader. “[Producers’] yards are full and [producers’] orders are fully covered, but there is talk about declines and production is slowing down,” he added.

Deals have been few this week as many producers in Italy are not willing to buy, hence remaining out of the market. “There are too many variables. Everyone is moving slowly and safely. Harsh declines [on scrap] might backfire, which is why they are waiting. A huge loss on scrap could also compromise finished steel prices,” a source commented.

All this said, local scrap prices in Italy have remained substantially stable, but it is likely that we will see some declines by at least €5/mt starting from next week.

Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.