Posted on 24 Dec 2020
Following price increases in December, most suppliers in the German scrap market are hoping that January prices will also rise due to stronger exports.
Prices in southern Germany have increased in December by €20/tonne ($24/t) on-month, a Bavarian buyer tells Kallanish. Unusually, deals occurred in the middle of the month at prices higher than at the beginning of the month. In the north and west the price increase has reached €30-€40/t.
The nationwide average price increase was €20-40/t, with, for example, old thick scrap sort 3 up from €215/t ($259) to €240/t in December’s negotiations. In Austria, prices also rose by €20 on-month.
At the end of December, the price for new scrap sort 2/8 stands at €260/t in northern Germany.
Turkey has been buying large amounts of scrap from Europe since November. “The country is benefiting from increased demand for steel in its own country and increased economic power in China, and other parts of Asia,” confirms another German market participant. Turkey needs to buy a huge volume of scrap, some of it by February delivery, he adds. There have also been orders from Italy and even the US.
The mood in the German steel market is still very optimistic. “We expect high demand from the plants in January as well, and some of them are already trying to at least secure the quantities,” a merchant says. “We assume demand will be far higher than the amount of scrap and therefore we anticipate another price increase of at least €20-30/t.”
For the moment, sources do not see the market being impacted by the second wave of rising Covid-19 infections and related lockdowns.
Source:Kallanish
