ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(75)299
Vol.1975/0106

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
l
l\ ■
COM(75)299 final .
Brussels ,19June 1975
i
COMMISSION COMMUNICATION
TOTHE REPRESENTATIVES OFTHE GOVERNMENTS OFTHE MEMBER
STATES MEETING INTHE COUNCIL
COM(75 )299final .

111/502/75-E
COMMISSION COMMUNICATION TOTHE
REPRESENTATIVES OFTHE GOVERNMENTS OFTHE MEMBER STATES
MEETING INTHE COUNCIL
The situation ontheCommunity scrap market ;
Implementation oftheDecisions ofi7December 197^and *\kApril 1975
granting quotas for the export ofscrap tonon-member countries for
the first and second quarters of1975 ;
Forseeable trends onthe scrap market ;
Measures toremove restrictions onexports ofscrap tonon-member countries ,
tobeenvisaged fortheperiod July/September 1975-

111/502/75-E
* –
1.Thesituation onthe Community scrapmarket
Between September 197 1*andFebruary /March 1975 thesituation on
Community scrap market underwent acontinuous deterioration which speeded
uptowards the endofthat period .
Both prices and thequantities dealt inshowed major drops ,
•chiefly owing tothedownturn inthe steel market atCommunity and world
levels .
Around late March /early April ,there was adefinite market recovery :
quantities delivered bythe trade increased andprices rose considerably .
This turnaround continued into May ,moreover ,despite thecontinuing
slackness onthe market for steel products .
The chief cause oftheupswing was anincrease indemand from
steelworks innorthern Italy ,coinciding with major transport problems
affecting scrap originating inGermany ;this ,inturn ,arose from the
unseasonable snowing-up ofthe Swiss mountain passes .
Atthat juncture ,orders from Italy were diverted totheFrench
market ,causing avery substantial increase indeliveries bytheFrench
toNorthern Italy .Indeed ,the Italians took more than 350000 tonnes
ofFrench scrap -more than therecord Quantities during theboom in
1973/7*.
This increase mshipments toItaly also resulted inaconsiderable
reduction inthe trade 'sdeliveries totheFrench Steel Industry .
Concurrently ,anddespite the transport problems ,theItalians
took delivery ofsome 170000 tonnes ofGerman scrap during April ;this
wasmore than themonthly average during 197^»
x x
X
Even intheperiod February /March ,thesituation onthe scrap
market did not deteriorate tothe same extent asthe market for steel
products inthe last fewmonths .
/.

••2ÏII/502/?5-£
This point isallthemore important inthat it.isthefirst
time since theearly 1960' sthat thedownward phase oftheeconomic cycle
isless marked onthe scrap market than thesteel market .
' Moreover ,this phenomenon isnotconfined totheCommunity ;
itcan beseen tobeaworld-wide phenomenon ,asiswitnessed by ,the
way inwhich theAmerican market hasheld up;intheUSAscrap prices
have been fluctuating between $80and90/tonnes since theendof197^»

-3- 111/502/75-E
II.Implementation oftheDecisions of17December 1974 and 14April 1975
The statistics onlicences granted and actual exports ,expressly
provided forinArticle 2oftheDecisions granting quotas forexports of
scrap tonon-nember countries ,have notalways reached theCommission 's
•departments .But ,when decisions with avery short time scale arebeing
adopted ,such statistics are theonly objective indicator ofthedevelopment
ofscrap exports .
TheCommission accordingly invites theRepresentatives ofthe
Governments concerned tosupply regularly and aspromptly aspossible ,
thefull statistics required bytheDicisions inquestion .
V*
The table below shows thequantity covered bylicences granted
bytheGovernments during thefourth quarter of1974 andthefirst quarter
of1975 .
Month D F Bénélux UK .DN
!October 1974I18340i
i
!
J!2758
»
November 1974 - !9640 7350 6361 ! .250
December 1974 4300
i17802 ; 491
Fourth auarter 74j32280 |
i JF
I_L_T3<»95 j.-
January 1975 jI15030 4480 i4183 13940
February 1975 II15620 |194-91 8725 '5467 i3475
March 1975 i16170 :12770' * \5122
. , . 1
First quart er75 'f :– :–
146820
L 'I
!23971 14-777.i.
\
*estimated bydifférence
Comparing thelicences and quotas inrespect ofeach ,country
shows that thedegree towhich quotas were utilized during these quarters
was fairly satisfactory .
Quotas inrespect
Fourth quarter 74 43000 40000 30000 15000 20000
First quarter 75 48000 48000 38000 15000 25000

. , 111/502/75-E
-4-
According totheinformation gathered bytheCommission 's
departments uptomid-May ,however ,coverage ofquotas granted forthe
second quarter of1975 islikely tobesomewhat limited . :Under these
circumstances ,itmight have been advisable tosetthequotas atalevel
related tolikely exports tonon-member countries rather than onthebasis
ofthe trend ofinternal demand ,which atthe time was assessed as
unfavourable .
III .Forseeable trends onthescrap market inthecoming months
Trends onthescrap market will depend primarily onthetrend
ofthedemand forsteel which will beclosely linked with therate of
steel production . . i
The June toSeptember edition ofthe "Forward Programme for Steel ",
atpresent before theCommission forapproval ,forecasts a15#drop in
steel production compared tothesame four months of197^«
Asshown inthetable ,demand forscrap will fall proportionately .
Supply ofScrap from thesteel industry itself Will fall off even faster
because oftheincreased number ofcontinuous casting plants .The
steel industry 's"netinside purchases "inthethird quarter of1975 will
v ♦ •therefore fall by17#compared tothe3rdquarter of197^,given the
assumptions onexternal trade made inthetable .
Thesituation onthe scrap market isnottherefore likely .to
t
change substantially until after thesummer holiday period .Downward
adjustments toprices andquantities handled might occur towards June-July
of1975 owing tothepresent market situation ,which istoofirm in
relation tothepresent situation onthesteel market .
Asregards theAmerican market ,reference must bemade to
thecensus ofworld requirements forimports ofAmerican scrap in1975
undertaken recently bytheUSadministration .

s 111/502/75-E
• ■" -5-
When invited tosupply information ontheCommunity ,the
Commission 'sdepartments sent thefollowing figures ,after consulting with
the trade circles concerned :
Community purchases ofandrequirements for American scrap in1975 :
1st auarter .126 000 short tons
2ndquart er ' , ,:187 .©$© •short tons
3rdquarter ; - , 000short tons 152000short tons
4thquarter 230000short tons 202000short tons
"*A. »–– ilmtmmmmmm––––mmmmtmmmm■w–––––––»mmmm*
Total foryear ;667000short tons 667000 short tons
IV.Possible measures . ■-
From theforegoing points relating toprobable trends onthe
Community scrap market inthecoming months ,itcanbeexpected that
scrap-consuming industries should besupplied satisfactorily ,atleast with
regard toquantities . U
Despite this generalization ,great caution isrequired with
regard' toanymeasures that might beenvisaged toremove restrictions on
scrap exports ,having regard inparticular to .thefickleness ofthe scrap
market ,which was demonstrated once again bythereversal ofthetrend
observed inApril . V!' ' '•'

111/502/75-I
Furthermore ,inview :ofthesmall proportion ofexport quotas
forthesecond quarter of1975 expected tobetaken up,theCommission
proposes that lower export quotas begranted forthethird quarter of1975 ,
I
(
The^availability ofCommunity ,scrap forexport on:ascale well )
inexcess oftheimport requirements ofnon-member countries which |
traditionally buyontheCommunity market maydisrupt theinternal market ,
yetwithout solving theproblems ofdisposal oflow-grade scrap which
might -bethegrounds foradopting such aless restrictive decision .
'In conclusion ,theproposal from theCommission tothe i
Representatives oftheGovernments totheMember States meeting inthe !
Council isfor thegranting ,inrespect ofthethird quarter of1975 »of
aquota for the export ofscrap tonon-member countries ofthe -order of
220000tonnes fortheCommunity asawhole (incomparison with the
quota of3^0000tonnes granted forthesecond quarter of1975 )•Thegrade
which maybe .exported should beassetoutintheAnnex totheDecision of
April 1975 .
Theother Decisions expiring on30June ,ontheother hand ,
namely ; :
-theDecision of17December 197^onthetemporary exportation ofscrap ;
-theDecision of17December 197^onthetemporary importation ofscrap ;
-theDecision of17December 197^ontheexportation ofrolling-mill rolls
-theDecision of17December 197^ontheexportation ofalloy .steel scraps
might berenewed fortheseconddhalf of1975 *

Scrap iron crisesII1/502/75
Annex 1 /
Scrap metal prices forthe03category ofthenewclassification ofscrap metals intheCommunity ,
exworks ,tax free
Month
mL
[Jnnuary
ifaly ;1•"
Decetober
1974
«MMl
January
February
March
April
May
Juny
July
August
September
October
November
December
1075
January
February
March
April
MayGermany
DM/t
127
154
196
2'.1
216 .
307
372
343
259
256
2T *>
27;
282
271
v59 :
237
187
(17^>
(19u/
(170)'Belgium
FB/t
2100
2800
3200
3
4
5
4
4
4
4
4
.4
3
3700
200
800
4oo
300
300
000
200
100
000
500'
500
3450
2500
2200
2700
3200France
FFr/t
2.0
285
315
370
455
495
505
530
545
510
505
445
405
'410
415
395
340
280
305
305Italy
Frenuh scrap
delivered
Modane
FFr/t •
270
360
440
510
620
.670
780
735
680
630
630
530
495
«540 ..
540
460
340
(340 ^
480
390German serap
delivered
Basle
DM/t '
152
200
245
275
335
370
390
365
330
310
310
280
250
300
300
245
160
160
240
200Italian scrap
exworks
It.lire /t
29000
53000
63000
72:000 |237.5
81000•262.5
95000 312.5
100000;425
100 000 375
95000 270
90000 |270
90000' !290
82000»290
75000 290
75000 290
-75000 290
72000■255
52000 180
52000 •155
67000-175
63000 :200Netherlands
Dfl/t
135
185
227.5United
Kingdnn
Z/t
20
27
27
27
27
29
29
31
31
*28
-24
ii9Composite
price
end of
month
HMS No
S/t
50.83
5^.17
77.83
92.50
112.50
131
111
99.17
114.33
125.17
112
117.50
1.19.23
91.50
76.83
80.83
78.50
84.50
84.83
(84.17 )

•,■ '• v; -■» - ■--,
" ··*·' . '* 1
II1/502/75-JC
Annex 2
Estimated supplies andrequirements ofscrap intheCommunity
for the third quarter 75
(»000000tons )
1975
3rd quart er1975 .
3rd quart er
month average1974 - :
:month ;
:average :
:DEMAND :• m
• •
4 •
:1.Consumption insteelworks : 13,71 : 4,57 :5,55 :
• «
:2.Consumption inblast furnaces : 0,45 : 0,150,18:
:3.Consunrotion inrollmg mills : 0,12 r 0,04 :0,04 :
:4.Variations instocks iniron :
: and steelworks :«j»-0 ;ίο+_
:-0 :
• •
:5*Exports :0,21 : 0,07 :0,04 :
; TOTAL ;
• •
• •14,49 : 4,83 :5,87 :
:RESOURCES '
:6.Recuperation iniron and :
: ;steelworks : 6,36 :: 2,12• •
• •
:2,61:
• • •
:7*-Net internai purchases : 7,71 :: 2,57 :3,11 :
• •
• '•% ■ j. •
:8.-Importe ' : 0,42 :t >
: 0,14 ' :0,15 :
: TOTAL :
• •14,49 :: 4,83 :5,87 :
• •
I '
>i
\I