No changes in Italian scrap prices, stable outlook for rest of month

The Italian scrap market seems to have reached stability in this third week of October.

Demand from mills continues at regular volumes, although plants’ capacity utilization rates remain stable at around 70 percent. As for scrap availability in the market, several sources still report an overall shortage of material, which is why some of them believe that price declines - at least for the current month - have bottomed out. "We can’t lower scrap prices any further than this," an Italian scrap trader said, adding, "We have reached a point of resistance. If prices fall further, collection is at risk".

While confirming the stability of scrap prices by the end of October, the representative of an Italian steel mill said he believes there is still room for a decline. "Italian scrap prices are about €30/mt higher than, for example, Germany’s prices, and this is an uncommon situation,” he said, while noting that he continues to receive his usual scrap quantities. The same source and other market sources have reported evidence of a greater availability of scrap from other European countries compared to Italy, such as Germany, France, Czechia, Hungary, etc.

A source at another mill, on the other hand, said he would probably keep his scrap purchase prices unchanged for November, as he has good stock levels and he will have limited needs in the coming weeks. However, the same market player said he expects to find resistance at these price levels when he will have to stock for December.

As for prices, the values shown in the table below take into account the minimum and maximum levels in negotiations observed by SteelOrbis. It should be noted, however, that average deal prices for these categories may be lower.

Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.