US weekly brass scrap spreads narrowed, and prices declined on Friday in a quiet market as participants took a step back following a steep decline in Comex copper and a drop in LME Zinc prices.
Comex spot copper contract closed at $4.133/lb down 26.4¢/lb from Aug 13 while the spot LME zinc official cash contract declined by $58.50/mt to $2,948.50/mt over the same period.
The weekly Davis Index for C-200 series alloy’s copper spread tightened by 1.4¢/lb to 11.8¢/lb under the Comex copper spot contract, while the C-200 series zinc spread, narrowed by 0.6¢/lb to 5.7¢/lb under the LME zinc cash contract.
Brass prices also moved down in tandem with the corrections on Comex copper and LME Zinc on Friday. The weekly Davis Index for 360-rod borings decreased by 10.7¢/lb to $2.95/lb delivered US consumer. Brass radiators declined by 9.7¢/lb to $2.412/lb delivered, while red brass solids fell by 11.5¢/lb to $3.18/lb delivered. Some bids for brass radiators were heard 2¢/lb higher than the indexed price of $2.412/lb down 10.3¢/lb from the previous week, though offers were scarce to come by.
Demand remains strong despite buyers also stepping back after sellers began showing some hesitancy to strike deals. On their part, sellers are reluctant to bring down their prices, preferring instead to hold on to inventories as they gauge the market in anticipation of prices improving over the next week.