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Forecasts and market analysis based on price assessments from Fastmarkets MB and Fastmarkets AMM

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February 2020 | Galvanized Steel and Tinplate Market Tracker


Steel prices diverge across Europe as scrap prices retreat: European Market Highlights


At publication of our last tracker there were indications that scrap prices in Europe were beginning to retreat.

Over the past couple of months, we have highlighted the fact that, while prices of flat steel products in Europe had been rising, this was largely a result of steelmakers passing on increased raw material costs. As such, steelmakers’ margins have remained relatively flat behind all the noise.

At publication of our last tracker, however, there were indications that scrap prices in Europe were beginning to retreat. And indeed, recent weeks have seen this trend continue, with average prices of scrap (both shredded and HMS 1&2) falling by around €25-30/tonne before picking up slightly in recent days.

The worry was that Europe’s steelmakers would be exposed by this retreat in raw material costs – found to be swimming naked when the tide went out as the saying goes. They had been trying to head off such a...

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