Scrap prices uptrend comes to an end in the Italian market

In Italy, scrap prices, after months of increases (you have to go back to the beginning of February to find the latest decreases), have suffered a setback in recent days. "We are talking about very small reductions," a seller told SteelOrbis. The reasons given by the steel mills are mainly the drop in scrap import prices in Turkey and the greater flows of material coming from abroad (Germany, France etc.) in the past few weeks. For their part, traders consider the "respite" to be absolutely understandable since "excessive price levels had been reached."

“Even for us suppliers, it had become difficult to sell knowing that the next day prices would rise further,” explained a source. But “in essence, nothing has changed": overall scrap supply continues to be scarce, and the prices of high quality materials are still touching €500/mt level.

"It is probably right that we stop for a breather, while lowering prices now would be a mistake in my opinion, because it would mean seeing an even stronger bounce in September," another scrap trader commented. Finally, according to some, it should not be overlooked that the usual summer stoppages in August are expected to be relatively short this year, which should help to support scrap prices in the coming weeks.

Scrap prices in the Italian scrap market are at the following levels:

Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.