The weekly spreads for US domestic copper scrap tightened on Tuesday following a steep fall in Comex copper prices, which declined by more than 18¢/lb from Jun 8
Comex copper closed today at $4.335/lb giving up all the gains made over the past two months on reports over China mulling curbs on further copper price increases and a softening dollar against the euro.
The Davis Index spread for #1 copper wire & tube was rangebound at 24.3¢/lb under the June Comex contract, with the grade’s weekly transaction price falling by 16¢/lb to $4.11/lb delivered.
Spreads for US bare bright copper scrap (barley) tightened by 1.2¢/lb to 14.7¢/lb under the June Comex contract on Tuesday, with its transaction price declining by 16¢/lb to $4.20/lb delivered US consumer.
For #2 light copper, the spread narrowed by 1.2¢/lb to 63.8¢/lb under the June Comex contract while the transaction price for #2 light decreased by 16¢/lb to $3.71/lb delivered US consumer.
Demand has continued to remain stable over the past week, but scrap flows may be impacted with spreads expected to tighten further if the Comex slips again. Scrap yards may consider holding on to their copper inventories until prices improve, which may cause a dearth of supply in the short term, especially for grades like bare bright, which are being heard at spreads as narrow as 10¢/lb under the June Comex.