Posted on 27 Dec 2023
Germany’s ferrous scrap exports and imports decreased in January-October, according to data from the German federal statistics office.
Shipments from Germany totalled 6.45 million tonnes, down 3% on-year, Kallanish notes. Exports to Belgium and Switzerland fell by the most, while deliveries to India bucked the trend, more than doubling.
The total export value was €3.3 billion ($3.63 billion) compared to the previous year's value of €4.3 billion.
The main target country is traditionally the Netherlands, but exports to this destination fell by 6% to almost 1.27mt. To Italy, the second-largest buyer, ten-month shipments however increased by 1% to 1.26mt.
Turkey is the most important customer outside the EU. German direct exports here totalled 606,583t in January-October, up by 6% on-year.
The surge continued in deliveries to India, which at 320,150t were up 131% on-year.
However, ten-month scrap imports fell by 23% to 2.9mt. This is the weakest ten-month import tonnage in the data series going back to 2006, analysts note.
The most important trading partner here was the Czech Republic, which provided 691,401t, flat on-year. The second-largest supplier was the Netherlands with 590,633t, down 29%, and third-largest Poland supplied 430,370t, down by 23% on-year.
Most German market participants observe there was low demand for scrap from most foreign steelworks for large parts of the year and no improvement is expected in 2024.
In full-year 2022, exports totalled 7.7mt, down 14% on-year on 2021. This was the lowest export volume since the economic and financial crisis of 2009 (see Kallanish passim). Scrap imports fell 12% to 4.3mt.
German scrap prices have increased in December due to some new export deals, mainly to Turkey. Values are however anticipated to be stable this month amid the Christmas holidays (see Kallanish passim).
Nationwide average German prices for old thick scrap sort 3 are at €340/tonne ($374/t), while new scrap sort 2/8 rose to €335/t. E40 shredded scrap is at €350/t.
In Austria, scrap prices have also increased by €20/t for most sorts this month. For new scrap, sort 2/8 is at €345/t, with old thick scrap sort 3 at €340/t.
Source:Kallanish
