Posted on 12 Oct 2023
German scrap prices are mostly flat in the first fortnight of October amid exports to Turkey and India, say local market participants. Sources however expect values to be unstable amid the impact of the war in Israel.
“Prices in Europe are very different; in Italy and Austria they are going down about €10 [$11] so far, but in Germany they are mostly stable,” a buyer from Bavaria tells Kallanish. “In some small cases, in south Germany prices have fallen only by €5, but at the same time in the north they have increased by the same €5.”
Nationwide average German prices for old thick scrap sort 3 are at €320/t, while new scrap sort 2/8 fell to €320/t. E40 shredded scrap is at €325/t.
In Austria, scrap prices decreased for new scrap sort 2/8, which fell to €325/t, but old thick scrap sort 3 is at €320/t.
“Exports are a little lower than in September, but steady shipments continue to Turkey, India and Bangladesh,” another participant in the market notes. “There are good deals for sea shipments, better than domestic German demand.”
The German scrap market is worried about the outbreak of war in Israel, which could have an indirect impact on raw material exports, sources say. “Nobody knows how the situation will develop in the Middle East in the coming weeks,” one source observes, echoing the wider sentiment.
Germany’s ferrous scrap exports decreased in January-May to 3.1 million tonnes, down 14% on-year, according to data from the German federal statistics office (see Kallanish passim). Scrap imports fell 30% to 1.4mt.
In 2022, exports totalled 7.7mt, down 14% on-year and the lowest export volume since the global financial crisis of 2009. Scrap imports by the German steel industry also fell last year by 12% to 4.3mt.
Source:Kallanish
