As anticipated by SteelOrbis, the local Polish scrap market has moved down further in June. “The market is more or less similar to Turkey. There is no demand for finished steel in Poland. Some mills are taking a break from production. Their official announcements mention maintenance, but the real reason is more their lack of sales,” a Polish source commented. As a result, the quantity of scrap bought by Polish mills has declined over the month of June, causing prices to move down sharply once again.
During the past month, prices in the local Polish market for HMS I scrap have moved down significantly by €130/mt to the range of €330-340/mt DAP, from levels of €460-470/mt DAP. Higher grades like bundle scrap are currently at around €340-350/mt DAP, depending on the mill, according to sources.
No recovery in the local Polish scrap market is expected in July. SteelOrbis has learned that three Polish mills have stopped their production. Their usual monthly scrap procurement volume totals approximately 200,000 mt. The total scrap consumption in Poland is around 600,000-700,000 mt per month, and so this loss of 200,000 mt is very high. Domestic scrap prices are expected to record at least a €30-50/mt fall in July, depending on other mills’ strategies regarding their capacity utilization rates. Also, the holiday season in Poland is ahead and traditionally producers’ usage of scrap and scrap collection activities shrink during this period.