The weekly spreads for US domestic copper scrap widened slightly on Tuesday amid strong demand and healthy scrap flows.
Comex copper closed today at $4.245/lb down by 0.5¢/lb from Aug 24 amid sporadic spot deals.
The Davis Index spread for #1 copper wire & tube widened by 0.9¢/lb to 22.1¢/lb under the August Comex contract, with the grade’s weekly transaction price decreasing by 3¢/lb to $4.02/lb delivered.
Spreads for US bare bright copper scrap (barley) widened by 0.1¢/lb to 14.5¢/lb under the August Comex contract on Tuesday. Bare bright’s transaction price dropped by a penny to $4.10/lb delivered US consumer.
For #2 light copper, the spread widened by 1.7¢/lb to 56.2¢/lb under the August Comex contract while its transaction price declined by 3¢/lb to $3.68/lb delivered US consumer.
Scrap trade remains subdued for most grades despite strong demand. Still, sellers of predominantly clean grades like #1 chops are witnessing higher sales with the grade currently being offered and picked up at spreads that are at least 1.5¢/lb tighter than the indexed spread of 19.4¢/lb under the August Comex.
Tight scrap flows that had caused spreads to narrow over the past two weeks have returned to healthy levels and with prices becoming more conducive, participants are optimistic about deals picking up pace in September.