The weekly prices for US secondary aluminum smelter scrap moved up on Wednesday, amid robust buying activity that picked up over the week as supply continued to lag demand.
The weekly Davis Indexes for all aluminum shredder grades inched up on Wednesday, with Tweak increasing by 1.9¢/lb to 38¢/lb del US smelter, Twitch ticking up by 3¢/lb to 42.6/lb, and Zorba rising by 3.1¢/lb to 35.8¢/lb.
The indices for Old Cast and Old Sheet both rose by 0.9¢/lb to 35.8¢/lb delivered US smelters and 37.3¢/lb delivered, respectively.
The Davis Index for secondary MLC jumped by 0.2¢/lb to 41.4¢/lb delivered US smelter and increased by 1.5¢/lb to 38.2¢/lb delivered for painted siding.
The three-month LME aluminum contract closed at $1,600/mt, down $38/mt from $1,638/mt on June 10.
The shortage of supply has kept price changes grade-specific and the market has not moved much since the shutdowns began. Market participants expect the trend to continue until the supply-demand equation flips to a more demand-driven environment to push up the market in unison. Until then, pricing factors are weighed differently, and criteria like prompt delivery, known chemistry, etc., can carry more value than when supply is more plentiful.