Ferrous Scrap, Italy

While we are following hour by hour the U.S. debt-ceiling debate, August has arrived together with summer holidays in several countries. It means that from one side we will do our best to forget what happened around us, trying to enjoy ourselves as much as possible; on the other side, a small part of us will surely pay attention to the stock markets, the currencies fluctuation, the commodities trend and the economists comments. September could be a crucial moment to clearly understand what we have to expect from now till the end of the year!

Few words about July in Italy: the scrap prices moved down during the first half on the domestic market by about €10, and increased of about 5€ in the second half; the monthly contracts from France and Germany have been settled down around 10€. The mills suffered the European railway logistic delay and consequently they pushed the domestic market for covering the inventories as high as possible before the holidays. The summer stoppages, started at the end of July, will be on the average of three weeks. It is important to notice that all the mills will keep open the scrap receipt during the month with the exception of the middle week of August. Arrivals by vessel were important: about 110 thousand tons of scrap, about 60 thousand tons of pig iron and about 80 thousand tons of HBI.

September will be a big uncertainty: everything is possible, from a small prices rise to an important fall!

PIG IRON - H.B.I. The arrivals to the ports have been on the standard volume, lower than the previous months, but the inventories remained well covered. Offers are now quoted around $525/530 pmt Cif for Sept/Oct shipment. The arrival of some HBI cargoes is reported (mainly Venezuela and Russia). The pressure from the Venezuelan producers to sell more HBI cargoes in the Med-area is always strong.

STEEL To say that demand is stable is positive, but it means stable on low level for billets, rebars and HRC. Better is the special steel products demand even if the order books are shorter that before. Prices are still suffering the weak demand.  

Ruggero Alocci can be contacted at mail@alocci.com.