As SteelOrbis had reported earlier, scrap collection in Poland continues to be difficult due to harsh winter conditions, which is causing quite tight availability in the local market.
Therefore, scrap exporters and local mills are fighting to secure volumes, and, as far as SteelOrbis is aware, the former are willing to pay up to €270-285/mt DAP for HMS I, whereas the latter are ready to pay around €275-280/mt delivered in February negotiations, which is up by around €10-15/mt compared to last month's levels.
A major Polish exporter commented, “There are currently no strong indications from sales or export markets to justify a price increase, […but…] we still need to raise prices in order to be able to buy material versus Polish mills.” The Polish local scrap market seems to have reached a balanced price scenario, where buyers and sellers are willing to deal at around the same levels.
Consequently, SteelOrbis has revised its HMS I reference scrap price for Poland to €270-285/mt DAP, which is up by €20-35/mt compared to the previous reported levels, that have been assessed as being too low by official confirmations.