Local Italian scrap prices increase

Domestic scrap prices have started increasing in Italy in the past week after decreasing slightly in early November. "We may be at the beginning of a strong bullish phase," commented a local scrap supplier. Local scrap prices have already increased on the back of the ongoing upward trend of import scrap prices in Turkey and the current situation in other European countries, such as Austria and Germany, where "prices are €20/mt higher compared to Italy's," according to another source. Sources underlined also that local steelmaker Arvedi has started increasing its production and that during the end of this year and the beginning of 2021 it should start consuming 400,000 mt of scrap monthly. Local scrap demand should also remain good in the coming weeks as all steelmakers in general have good order books and will try to increase their scrap purchases in order to have adequate stocks in January. Last but not least, scrap supply could decrease in the market in the weeks before the holiday season because, as usually happens, lots of small local suppliers may hold back their sales due to fiscal reasons, as they will have to pay higher taxes if their annual turnover exceeds a certain level.