The weekly spreads for US domestic copper scrap grades have widened this week on a more substantial Comex market against soft demand.
The Comex spot market closed Tuesday at $2.71/lb, up from $2.66/lb on June 23, marking a steady run-up from last week.
The spread for US bare bright copper scrap (barley) delivered US consumer widened to 8.3¢/lb from 6.9c/lb from last week, under the June Comex contract on Tuesday. The weekly Davis Index for bare bright increased by 3.9¢/lb to $2.63/lb delivered US consumer.
The spread for #1 copper (berry/candy) increased to 15.2¢/lb from 13.7c/lb from last week under the June Comex contract, with the weekly index for the grade at $2.561/lb, marking an increase of 3.8¢/lb.
The spread for #2 copper chops increased to 32.7¢/lb, rising by 9.3¢/lb under the June Comex contract. The index for #2 chops, however, decreased by 4¢/lb to $2.386/lb.
A higher Comex has shored up copper scrap prices in a market that is seeing tight supply, weak demand and consumers who have exited the market in the near term. Tight supply in fact, has had a domino effect as vendors who are short of material are delaying sending material to market participants, who in turn are unable to fulfill their orders.
The concerns over a second round of shut downs, however, seems remote as manufacturing remains unaffected by the revised shutdown orders reinstated by most states that have recently seen a surge in COVID-19 cases.