The Italian domestic scrap market has remained on an upward trend. In the past two weeks, increases of €25/mt have been recorded on average, on the back of strong demand and supply shortages. “The same steel mill has raised its purchase prices twice within a few days. Scrap is lacking and the small volumes available are being competed for with price increases," a local trader said, adding, “It is not speculation. We have almost no material.” The manager of a national steel producer shared a different opinion: "I do not agree that there is no scrap. They are not offering it, which is understandable since we are witnessing successive price increases.” The same source explained that, in the current situation, in addition to quality, quantity is rewarded, stating, “If a supplier proposes high volumes, they can get higher prices. It is also true, however, that large quantities are not frequently offered in the market.” As for the next few weeks, he commented, “There are some glimmers of hope that an equilibrium will be reached, since Italian steel mills, given the situation, have covered their needs through supplies coming from abroad [from Germany, France, Switzerland, Slovenia, etc.] with volumes significantly higher than usual. These supplies could lead to larger flows of material to Italian steel mills and thus ease the upward pressure in the Italian scrap market.” Foreign scrap was purchased at prices "in line with the current national market, but here we are dealing with two to three truckloads or 200-500 mt, while in the case of foreign material we are talking about much more important volumes," the same manager explained. He also specified that Italian steel mills have also purchased scrap by ship "taking advantage of the windows granted by Turkish buyers, who have moved a little away from the international scrap market lately.” According to a local scrap trader, however, the volumes from abroad will not be sufficient to reduce the upward pressure caused by the shortage of supply.
Scrap prices in the Italian scrap market are at the following levels:
Quality |
Average spot price (€/mt) |
Change |
Turnings (E5) |
410-420 |
+30 |
HMS (E3) |
430-450 |
+25 |
Shredded scrap (E40) |
480-490 |
+25 |
Busheling (E8) / (E6) |
480-490 / 500 |
+20 |
Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.