US weekly brass scrap spreads widened by about a penny on Friday amid high Comex copper and LME Zinc prices and are expected to weaken further next month.
The Comex spot copper contract made another leap this week, closing at $4.51/lb on Friday from $4.33/lb on Apr 23. The spot LME zinc official contract rose in tandem and was up by $102/mt at $2,904/mt on Friday compared to the prior week.
The weekly Davis Index for C-200 series alloy’s copper spread widened by 1.2¢/lb to 12.9¢/lb under the Comex copper spot contract. The C-200 series zinc spread, also widened by 0.6¢/lb to 6.5¢/lb under the LME zinc cash contract. Spreads are expected to widen further with some anticipating C-200 copper spreads to reach 15-16¢/lb under and C-200 zinc spreads to widen to 8-9¢/lb in May.
Transaction prices for brass have jumped along with the soaring Comex copper and LME zinc prices this week. Supply remains slightly tighter than demand, though the availability of red brass grades may increase over the next few weeks.
Participants in the export market are mulling sales of some of their additional volumes of red brass in the domestic market, depending on how soon they can ship them to destinations like China. Shipments to the Asian nation are estimated to happen only by July due to congestion at ports. Moreover, high freight costs and container shortage have impacted the export and domestic markets alike.
The weekly Davis Index for 360-rod borings increased by 14¢/lb to $2.927/lb delivered US consumer. Brass radiators climbed by 6¢/lb to $2.457/lb delivered, while Red Brass solids rose by 10¢/lb to $3.133/lb delivered.