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PrintStainless steel 18/8 scrap solids prices in Europe fell this week as mills and stockists continued to try to second-guess one another while unpredictable nickel prices and weak demand took their toll.
Current market indications show the price of the scrap has fallen to €1,480-1,520 ($2,047-2,103) per tonne cif Europe from $2,048-2,137, where it had remained since the start of September.
“We do not believe that the market will return to boom times any time soon,” a European merchant said.
“We are not chasing any material at the moment; we are sitting on the sidelines when we would normally be a lot more aggressive. There is plenty of stock available but it would be difficult to sell to mills at a profit right now,” he added.
Many market participants, both up and downstream, were sitting out of the market and trying to decide what do next, the merchant said. They would only be spurred into action on the back of significant movement in the LME nickel price, in lieu of sustained physical demand.
Everyone is still out to make a profit and would most likely hold on to what stocks they had, in the hope of an appreciation in value at a later date, he added.
“There are a lot of people just waiting, asking for prices, but willing neither to buy nor sell right now. In the end, if there is no profit [to be made], then it’s not the right time,” he lamented.
There are no large or out-of-the-ordinary orders coming in from the mills, nor is there much scrap material entering the EU from outside, he said. “If we were looking to pick up scrap at the moment, we would be looking in Europe, to our neighbours – probably to Germany and the UK,” he said.
“I don’t expect anything other than more of the same for the next couple of weeks in Europe,” a UK-based merchant said. “Things have been fairly slow and everyone is just plodding along. Nickel is driving [stainless steel scrap] prices, not physical demand.”
London Metal Exchange [LME] nickel prices have continued to fluctuate since the start of the month.
On September 1, the LME three-month official nickel price was $21,600/21,605 per tonne; on Thursday, the figure was similar at $21,650/21,675. But in the intervening period it fell as low as $20,600/20,625 on September 6 and $20,875/20,880 on September 12.
Current market indications show the price of the scrap has fallen to €1,480-1,520 ($2,047-2,103) per tonne cif Europe from $2,048-2,137, where it had remained since the start of September.
“We do not believe that the market will return to boom times any time soon,” a European merchant said.
“We are not chasing any material at the moment; we are sitting on the sidelines when we would normally be a lot more aggressive. There is plenty of stock available but it would be difficult to sell to mills at a profit right now,” he added.
Many market participants, both up and downstream, were sitting out of the market and trying to decide what do next, the merchant said. They would only be spurred into action on the back of significant movement in the LME nickel price, in lieu of sustained physical demand.
Everyone is still out to make a profit and would most likely hold on to what stocks they had, in the hope of an appreciation in value at a later date, he added.
“There are a lot of people just waiting, asking for prices, but willing neither to buy nor sell right now. In the end, if there is no profit [to be made], then it’s not the right time,” he lamented.
There are no large or out-of-the-ordinary orders coming in from the mills, nor is there much scrap material entering the EU from outside, he said. “If we were looking to pick up scrap at the moment, we would be looking in Europe, to our neighbours – probably to Germany and the UK,” he said.
“I don’t expect anything other than more of the same for the next couple of weeks in Europe,” a UK-based merchant said. “Things have been fairly slow and everyone is just plodding along. Nickel is driving [stainless steel scrap] prices, not physical demand.”
London Metal Exchange [LME] nickel prices have continued to fluctuate since the start of the month.
On September 1, the LME three-month official nickel price was $21,600/21,605 per tonne; on Thursday, the figure was similar at $21,650/21,675. But in the intervening period it fell as low as $20,600/20,625 on September 6 and $20,875/20,880 on September 12.
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