US secondary aluminum alloy prices strengthened this past week as spot capacity tightened after a furnace at one smelter suffered an outage.
Auto production cutbacks at US plants have had little impact on secondary aluminum alloy production in the US since producers of the benchmark A380.1 alloy have found strong demand from neighboring countries like Mexico, where an ingot maker has suffered production issues.
This week, a secondary US smelter suffered an outage at one of its furnaces, which caused more spot market tightness for A380.1.
The weekly Davis Index for A380.1 delivered US consumer rose by 0.6¢/lb to $1.156/lb delivered US consumer. Spot offer prices have risen to as high as $1.18-1.19/lb and suppliers said they expect to see an increase as early as next week.
Ingot makers are running at full capacity on high purity alloys, and rising freight and input costs fuelled increases in other alloy prices.
The 319.1 index rose to $1.20/lb on Friday, from $1.195/lb delivered; A413.1 recorded a one-cent gain to $1.219 delivered; and A356.1 rose by 2.5¢/lb to $1.248/lb delivered. A360.1 stayed firm at $1.215/lb while B390 inched up to $1.291/lb from $1.288/lb delivered.
Ingot makers have witnessed increased demand from non-automotive sectors such as consumer goods and agricultural equipment sectors as pent-up demand from a society constricted by COVID-19 begins to unfurl.