Market
May 7, 2024
Non-ferrous recycled spreads remain tight, exports competitive
Written by Gabriella Vagnini
The non-ferrous scrap market remains tight, and exports still remain competitive, just not to China as that country is showing little interest in buying.
There is one export that remains stronger than others, and that’s to India. Particularly for aluminum, especially sheet and siding, with sheet prices around the mid 0.80’s.
We are also hearing that one EAF producer has secured all their May and June supply. However, it’s likely that some sellers won’t be able to meet their obligations, due to the lack of supply. Their initial aggressive market entry has now paused, with no plans to resume purchasing for July for a few weeks. Could this trend be widespread? What repercussions might arise from overselling and underdelivering? My guess is that we will soon find out.
On a copper note, there seems to be issues with liquidity on the base metals side as well as the recycling side. There have been concerns from top trading firms as copper reaches over $10k/mt on the LME. Hearing that one trading firm raised their year-end price target to $12k/mt. All eyes are on the Fed and their potential rate cut. As this is said to be the key component to the anticipated rally.
| Aluminum (MWUSTP $1.34/lb, LME 3M $2568/mt) | Spread |
|---|---|
| 1100 Bare | 82% |
| 3003 | 84% |
| 5052 Bare | 89% |
| 6061 Turnings | 62% |
| 6061 Sheet/Plate/Clip | 70% |
| 10/10 Extrusion | 72% |
| 6063 Bare Extrusion | 88% |
| EC Chops | 84% |
| EC Wire | 85% |
| Irony Extrusion – 95/5 | 69% |
| Litho | 76% |
| MLC | 75% |
| Old Sheet | 62% |
| PAS | 72% |
| Car Rims – Clean (Limited) | 82% |
| UBC | 73% |
| Wheels – Dirty | 76% |
| Copper (Comex – July 4.5955) | Spreads |
|---|---|
| Bare Bright | – 0.09c |
| #1 Copper | – 0.12c |
| #2 Copper | – 0.25c |
| ICW #1 (x recovery + processing 10c) | – 0.18c |
| ICW #2 (x recovery + processing 10c) | – 0.30c |
| Birch/Cliff | – 0.29c |
| Copper Rads | – 0.40c |
| Copper Chops | – 0.22c |
