September saw a further decline in steel scrap prices on the German market. Merchants blame the decrease on overcapacity in the Chinese steel industry, as China now floods the world market with large quantities of steel billet and concrete reinforcement steel bars at low prices. It is now more economical for steel plants to produce rebar from imported billets than using steel from electric arc furnace mills.
No steel scrap can be exported from Germany to Turkey at the moment. Turkish steel mills are covering their reduced scrap demand through imports from the USA, where better quality material is currently available, according to merchants. Due to processing of billets, Italian steel mills were out of commission several days per week. Their remaining scrap demand was covered with domestic material, meaning virtually no volumes could be delivered from Germany. The UK imported Chinese steel, as well. A further problem are the reduced shipments of Turkish steel as a result of the crisis in the Middle East.
The full report on the German steel scrap market including the price table appears in issue 20/2015 of EUWID Recycling and Waste Management on 30 September 2015. Online subscribers can access it here:
