Uptrend of local Italian scrap market comes to an end

The uptrend in the local Italian scrap market has halted this week. Some market players interpret the market situation as being stable, while others report a €10/mt decline on the upper end of quotations for some higher grades.

An Italian source commented, “The situation [in the local Italian scrap market] is calming down with prices stabilizing this week due to the news regarding the Turkish market and the long steel market in Italy which is underperforming.” SteelOrbis hears that the Italian flat steel market is performing better and the automotive section is reported to be performing better. Scrap supply is not on the high side, market players report, steel plants are still interested in buying so that they can keep their inventories healthy. Another source stated that the decline of €10/mt on the upper end is not so striking. “We have to see at the beginning of April whether prices will remain stable - which I think will be the case - or whether they will move down. But I believe producers are using higher scrap prices as a driver to increase their finished steel quotations,” the second source said. Generally, no significant change in the local Italian scrap market is expected until March ends. Subsequently, the trend of the international scrap market will also be important for the Italian scrap market.

In the current context, SteelOrbis’ range of reference prices for local scrap prices in Italy are revised as below: 

 Prices include delivery and exclude VAT.