Prices for US secondary aluminum smelter scrap climbed across all grades on Wednesday. Supply is tight heading into the winter season and could continue its battle with the export market tallying highs for the year on the way.
The weekly Davis Indexes for all the aluminum shredder grades ticked up this week. Zorba moved up by 2.5¢/lb to 51.7¢/lb delivered US consumer. Tweak increased by 3.3¢/lb to 54¢/lb delivered and Twitch rose by 3.5¢/lb to 64.3¢/lb delivered, hitting a high mark for the year.
The index for Old Cast climbed by 1.5¢/lb to 51.5¢/lb delivered US consumer on Wednesday, and Old Sheet increased by 1.3¢/lb to 49.5¢/lb delivered.
The Davis Index for high-grade turnings increased by 1.6¢/lb to 45.3¢/lb delivered amid incredibly tight aerospace scrap with negligible activity in the commercial and defense segments of this sector.
The three-month LME Aluminium contract closed on Wednesday at $1,885.50/mt, up by $70.50/mt from $1,815/mt on Oct 28.
The combination of a stronger LME and stable secondary alloy prices have left the secondary scrap market poised for a strong start to the US’s winter months.