After a stable and optimistic December, the year has begun with high hopes for the Italian scrap market, said Assofermet, the association representing Italian distributors of scrap, raw materials, and steel products, in a press release.
"The shutdowns for the Christmas period caused a reduction in deliveries, that is still continuing today, while waiting for updates in prices that we have started seeing these days with slight upward variations," the association said.
The issues of high energy prices seem to be now replaced by those in the transport segment, especially in relation to rising fuel prices, which could impact supply chain stability in the coming months.
The international scrap market was characterized by prices tending to rise during December, although volumes traded were rather low. "Turkey led this trend with a significant acceleration at the turn of the last week of 2022 and the first week of the new year, registering a total increase of about $40/mt (half of which was in the very first week of January)," Assofermet said.
In Europe, the changes were smaller, again with limited trading volume.
As far as stainless scrap is concerned, December ended with a positive trend in prices, which also rose further in relation to good expectations for January. "Expectations that unfortunately were not confirmed, keeping prices at the year-end levels and, in some cases, with slight declines," said Assofermet.
The international market is not in line with European prices, resulting in reduced export volumes.