As SteelOrbis had forecast last week, and in line with the local scrap price trends in other European countries, local purchase prices from mills in Poland have increased in December compared to November.
Even though finished steel sales are not performing greatly in the local market in Poland and the market seems quiet as the winter holidays are approaching, some signs of price increases in finished steel sales are emerging in the market due to various factors, especially the CBAM issue.
Following the rising trend in scrap purchase prices by mills in other European countries such as Germany, Italy and France, Polish mills have also increased their scrap purchase prices by PLN 50-70/mt (€12-15/mt) month on month. According to market sources, Polish mills are now paying an average of PLN 1,145/mt (around €270/mt) delivered for HMS I scrap and PLN 1,040/mt (around €245/mt) delivered for HMS II scrap.
In the export segment, exporters have been reporting slightly higher bids compared to the latest data collected by SteelOrbis because, in the wake of rising import scrap prices in Turkey experienced at the beginning of this month, suppliers were “no longer available to sell at those prices [i.e. €243/mt DAP on average]”, a source said. As a consequence, HMS I scrap prices at export yards in Poland have settled at around €250/mt DAP, rising by around €7/mt since the beginning of the month.
“Most likely port prices will need to increase [considering that exporters’ bids for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at other European ports are in the range of €265-269/mt DAP], but at the moment there are no clear signals from the selling side to justify such a move”, a major exporter in Poland commented.
€1 = PLN 4.22
