US weekly brass scrap spreads were rangebound while prices increased in tandem with rising Comex Copper and LME Zinc prices, despite soft demand.
Comex spot copper contract closed at $4.25/lb up 12¢/lb from Aug 20, though it remains below $4.39/lb reported on Aug 13. The official LME Zinc cash contract also climbed during the same period by $35/mt to $2,983.50/mt.
The weekly Davis Index for C-200 series alloy’s copper spread tightened by 0.3¢/lb to 11.5¢/lb under the Comex copper spot contract, while the C-200 series zinc spread, narrowed by 0.2¢/lb to 5.5¢/lb under the LME zinc cash contract.
Brass prices increased in tandem with the Comex and LME, though participants preferred to wait until there is some stability in the spot markets. The weekly Davis Index for 360-rod borings increased by 10¢/lb to $3.05/lb delivered US consumer. Brass radiators rose by 5.8¢/lb to $2.47/lb delivered, while red brass solids climbed by 4.8¢/lb to $3.228/lb delivered.
Demand remains soft and while some buyers have full inventories or prefer to wait for prices to stabilize before re-entering the market, others who need to buy brass scrap are grappling with high freight rates, delayed delivery times, and depleting offers as sellers resist the lower prices in this market.
The rising COVID-19 cases across the US are also putting some pressure on the market given that labor shortages are bound to increase in the current environment.