Some mills in Poland have started to publish their scrap purchase prices at the beginning of September round of purchases, lowering them by around €15/mt on average for all scrap qualities compared to August prices.
If in August equivalent HMS I scrap prices from mills in Poland were on average at €265/mt (PLN 1,150/mt) delivered, now scrap purchase prices for the same quality are being reported at around €250/mt (PLN 1,065/mt) delivered. Nonetheless, it is necessary to specify that, so far, only a couple of local mills have decided to publish their scrap purchase prices for this month, whereas the rest of Polish producers are still waiting. It is likely, though, that local scrap prices in Poland will mark an average decline of €5/mt month on month.
The reasons are to be ascribed to the fact that some major plans in the country, i.e. in Warsaw and in Dąbrowa Górnicza, are planning to idle for maintenance during October and November, reducing their scrap purchase volumes. At the same time, some mills are still partially counting on scrap imports from Eastern Europe countries, such as Ukraine, where prices are more convenient without having to give up on quality.
In the meantime, export yards are facing a quite critical scenario, where they need to collect as much scrap as possible to fulfill their commitments, having to pay high levels to sub-collectors, but they cannot raise their scrap sales prices too much, as their customers are not following suit. In light of this, HMS I equivalent scrap prices at export yards have been reported at €252-254/mt (PLN 1,160-1,080/mt) DAP, down by €5-7/mt week on week.
EUR 1 = PLN 4.2645
