The development of scrap prices in May negotiations in Germany was largely in line with the expectations of players. In late April, sources had anticipated that values would either remain unchanged in May or, more likely, rise.

A main domestic factor was the reopening of many scrap yards in the first weeks of the month, after operations had been halted due to public measures against the coronavirus. This helped the collection of general old scrap, whereas thick old scrap may still remain scarce because demolition works remain limited due to protection measures on construction sites, a scrap yard owner tells Kallanish.

The main problem remains with new scrap, given that car production remains low, and so does production of other machinery. The owner assesses the shortage of new scrap at -50% to -70% less under normal circumstances.

“New arisings are disastrous,” a raw materials buyer at a large integrated mill confirms. “Some carmakers have restarted production, but only for some hours in some shifts per day, so the entire chain isn’t working yet,” he says. For an integrated mill, new scrap is crucial for the production mix. Alternatively, “We can use thick scrap of type 3 just as well,” the buyer notes. However, this sort is also scarce.

Both sides report a price increase of some €10/tonne ($11/t) over April, valid for either sort, new or old, scarce or abundant. This would bring new scrap sort 2/8 as well as old thick scrap of type 3 to around €210/t.