German steel and ferrous scrap markets remain mired in a great deal of uncertainty. Along with economic and geopolitical flashpoints, the market was quite literally rocked by the disastrous earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February. The southern Turkish port city of Iskenderun, which was especially hard hit, is a key production site and trading hub for Turkey’s steel industry.
The short-term and long-term ramifications for the German and European scrap markets are hard to assess at the moment. The disaster was, of course, a hot topic in February talks between German scrap recyclers and steel mills, but ultimately had little impact on pricing. At least small price hikes materialised amid a persistent shortage of obsolete steel scrap.
Steel scrap prices on the German market had already risen in January, sometimes sharply. Scrap merchants had also started off February with upbeat forecasts. Market players said that Turkish importers were very active at the beginning of the month, which drove up export prices at deep-sea ports....
