After the monthly negotiations in Poland, scrap purchase prices of mills in Poland have confirmed a drop by €35/mt on average. The overall market conditions still see a widespread lack of material and lower volumes being traded in the local scrap market.
However, while from February until the current month finished steel demand was sluggish, local Polish mills are reporting good order books for June production. This means that scrap demand will likely increase in the coming weeks, leading to a new price rise. “[Scrap] prices have bottomed out”, a representative of a mill in Poland said, adding, “If they go down again, we will have to adjust our finished steel prices accordingly, and we cannot do that”. He continued, “We are worried, though, that with such decreases our suppliers will stop deliveries of scrap, failing to fulfill our previous agreements.”
According to SteelOrbis’ calculations based on previous data, HMS I purchase prices from mills in the local polish market should stand at around €270/mt delivered. However, there were no official confirmations of this price level by market sources.
As for exports, an important exporter in the local Polish market stated that, after two weeks of silence, purchases are slowly recovering and flows to export yards are beginning to come in again. “The worst is over. I’m optimistic for the weeks to come. With Turkey beginning to buy again, things will get better,” he said. According to SteelOrbis’ information, HMS I scrap prices to export yards stand at around €260/mt DAP, up by €10-15/mt compared to last week.